Digimon Creators
by HyperTails99
Summary: What would happen if the role of Yggdrasil was given to a human child? Nero Arakaki is a boy who creates a game called Digimon. However, he soon finds out his creations are living beings that need his help! Can Nero save his world from an evil virus? R
1. Prologue

**Digimon Creators**

**Prologue**

The scene was a dark room with an unidentifiable person typing on a computer. The light from the computer illuminated the room enough to show that it contained a single bed, and a bookshelf filled with several unidentifiable books among other things. There was also a wooden desk with a lamp and computer monitor and keyboard perched on top, a window with a dark sky outside, and the person sitting atop a chair in front of the desk.

A closer view of the computer monitor showed some kind of computer coding for a program. The mysterious character finished typing in the final line of coding and reviewed it thoroughly.

"Game name?" the character said in a male voice, probably belonging to a teenager. "Digimon: Digital Monsters!"

The character typed in the name and saved the program data. He loaded it up and a title screen featuring several strange-looking creatures and the words "Digimon: Digital Monsters" across the top. Being the creator of the program, he created a main account that would be used to monitor everything else.

"Username?" the character said to himself upon viewing the screen. "What kind of name would bedt suite the person whom created this world? God is just a lame name and too bland."

The character continue to ponder a suitable name for someone whom would connect the bridges that gap the distances separating everyone in the world, bringing them together under common interests to play a game together.

"That's it!" the character squealed excitably. "Y-G-G-D-R-A-S-I-L… Yggdrasil!"


	2. Chapter 1: A Digital Beginning

**Chapter 1: A Digital Beginning**

The sun shined high in the sky over a large, white, two-story building. The outside of the building was currently void of people, as the building was actually a Middle School with all of the students currently inside. A couple small baseball fields and a football field aligned one side and the back of the school building, while a swimming pool and a gym could be seen on the inside corner of the two.

The inside was also quite barren at the moment, with red, blue, and tan checkered tiles along the ground and standard blue lockers against the walls. White sliding doors represented the entrances to classrooms, and the students inside wore regular clothes while the teacher was usually dressed nicely. Every classroom was filled with the same wooden desks arranged straight rows, while the sunlight beamed in on them through glass windows. In the front of the room stood the teacher's desk with a chalkboard located behind it.

In one particular classroom, all of the students were quietly viewing over their textbooks while a female teacher lectured on about the current chapter. One student, a boy looking to be about 15, sat in the back left corner against the window, ignoring the teacher as he gazed outside. The boy wore a plain silver T-shirt with an open, short-sleeved, black jacket over it. His pants were simply tan shorts, while his shoes were ordinary white tennis shoes. He brown eyes stared blankly at the outside world while his head rested upon his right hand, which was currently holding a pencil. His hair was brown, and was spiked. The spikes were thick, and hardly resembled spikes as they drooped off to the direction they were closest to. His face was fairly handsome, but it gave off a sort of cold vibe, almost as if he was too important to be bothered with the class.

"Mr. Arakaki!" the teacher's voice rang. "Pay attention! This information is going to be on your test!"

The boy sighed and returned his attention to the open book on his desk. After the class bell rang, as the boy was putting his things away into a green backpack, two more boys approached him. One of them was built like a football player, sporting green long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. His shoes were blue skater shoes, and his black hair was both short and slicked. Along with his hazel eyes, he was handsome in the sense that attracted girls. He was slightly taller than the boy was.

The other was a tad bit smaller, but he was quite chubby. The large white T-shirt he wore did not hide his girth, and black shorts seemed to barely fit him. His fat cheeks drew attention away from his blue eyes and short, flat brown hair. His feet seemed to be cramped in his large white tennis shoes.

"Hey, Nero!" the black-haired boy spat. "I heard you stepped on my girlfriend's new and expensive shoes yesterday!"

"Did I?" Nero replied, avoiding eye contact. "I honestly don't remember. If I did, then I apologize."

"Why you…!" the black-haired boy growled, grabbing Nero's jacket and pulling him forward. "Sorry isn't good enough, you little punk! You're going to pay her back for ruining them, all 12,000 Yen!"

"12,000 Yen?" Nero responded with a small chuckle. "Sounds like somebody was ripped off."

"A little computer geek like you has no right to spout such things!" the black-haired boy shouted, releasing the boy from his right hand and forming it into a fist.

"Nara Ichozu!" the teacher called in a furious tone as she approached the three. She was a woman in her late 20s, sporting a nicely pressed purple sweatshirt with long tan pants. Her brown eyes gazed down at the black-haired boy as her long red hair flowed behind her. She also wore a pair of black high-heels. "I certainly hope you're not planning on doing what I think you are! You'll lose your privilege as the star quarterback if you are found laying even one hand on that boy!"

"Don't worry about, Ms. Yuriko," Nara replied. "It's not what it looks like. We were just talking about that Digimon game that's all the rage right now."

Nara released Nero and signaled for the fat boy to follow him. The two left the room, leaving only Nero and the teacher as the only people still in the room. The teacher heaved a sigh.

"Honestly, Nero," Ms. Yuriko sighed. "You can't let people push you around like that. Nobody's ever going to be your friend if you keep that up."

"It's not like anyone wants to be my friend anyway," Nero retorted.

"I know it's tough on you, Nero," Ms. Yuriko told him. "However, that doesn't excuse you from not paying attention in class. You're a brilliant student, your computer teacher tells me you have the knowledge of a college-level student in that area. If only you applied that same perseverance in all your classes, you could be in college already!"

"I'm sorry," Nero apologized. "It's just that my mom has a hard enough time working to help support me. The only reason I'm still here is because it makes her happy. You're a great teacher, honestly, but I'm just not the type of person who can suddenly become interested in things completely unrelated to my future goals."

Ms. Yuriko knew that Nero's father had passed away when he was young, and that his mom and him were tight enough on cash as it was. She really wanted to help Nero, but Nero just never seemed interested in anything other than computers. Although he was in shape, he wasn't athletic, so his peers had no reason to recognize him for anything other than being obsessed with computer technology.

Before she could consul him further, Nero stood up and left the room. School was over and he left the building and followed the sidewalk back to his house. He recalled Nara talking about the Digimon game.

"Ha, as if that guy could ever raise a proper Digimon," he chuckled. "My special friend is the best there is!"

He stopped outside of a small two-story house that looked in need of some renovation and entered. The bottom floor was a hallway leading to the stairs, kitchen, and living room. His mother was inside of the living, perched on top of a black sofa and watching the small television across the room. Nero entered and saw an anchorman reporting on the popular Digimon game.

"It's been two weeks since the game was first released to the public," the man reported. "And already stores worldwide are having problems keeping up with the supply and demand. While the company has refused to divulge the identity of the creator of such a game, one thing is certain! The one whom has been dubbed Yggdrasil must be one of the most intelligent people on the planet to come up with such a popular game. I'm sure anyone related to them must be proud of their accomplishment! Like many others, I sincerely hope that one day the mastermind reveals themselves and allows for us just to give them the pleasure of their company."

Nero's mom perked over the side of the sofa and saw Nero standing there.

"Speak of the devil!" she said upon seeing him.

Nero's mom was in her mid 30s, and she was currently dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and long white pants. Her hair was a brown color that was long enough to reach her mid-back. Like Nero, she too possessed brown eyes. She also wore a pair of red high-heels.

"Hey, mom," Nero greeted. "So, did the money they sent us help pay for the bills?"

"I only used half of the money you gave me to do that," his mom answered. "It's your money son, you should save it for college and when you move out on your own."

"I've got more than enough for that now, mom," Nero responded. "I want you to have it! You're always working so hard just to take care of me, it's the least I can do. Besides, college doesn't interest me."

"Nero, I work because I want to, not because I have to," Nero's mom replied. "If I didn't, I wouldn't feel like a proper mother. Now, I know you don't like school, but education is a necessity. I'm sure you're friends at school would like you a lot more if you told them the truth."

"I don't want friends like that!" Nero exclaimed. "If I told them the truth, they wouldn't want to be my friends because they like me, only because I'm famous. I don't want fake friends, what I want is real ones! Ones who will look at me for who I am, and not what I'm not."

Nero headed upstairs into his room, ignoring his mom's calling for him. He sat down in front of his computer and loaded the Digimon game. He entered his username, Yggdrasil, and viewed a list of every player online. The current number was well over 3,000,000.

Nero opened a menu screen on his computer and clicked on his game's private Digimon reserve, a place where players could raise their own Digimon. Inside the reserve was a purple-furred Digimon known as Dorumon. He had a fox-like tail with a white tip attached to an almost furry dragon-like body. He stood on two muscular legs, with three white furred toes and sharp claws. His arms were a little shorter with white fox-like paws. His body also harbored a pair of tiny, almost unnoticeable dragon-like wings. His head resembled something more like a furry dragon with brown eyes, short fox-like ears, and a mysterious red jewel on his forehead.

"You're the only one who listens to me," Nero said softly.

Although Nero had control of every Digimon in the game and could do as he liked if somebody was breaking the rules, he showed Dorumon special attention, going as far as to max out his stats for a Rookie-level Digimon. Dorumon could handle even Digimon that were two levels higher if need be. However, due to his high stats, Nero never sent Dorumon out to battle. He was saving him for if somebody would be stupid enough to try and hack the game.

"To think I created this whole thing from something as simple as a V-Pet," Nero thought as he shifted his gaze to a curious-looking gadget on his desk.

Back downstairs, Nero's mom was getting ready for work when an interesting news report came on television. Due to her focus being on getting ready, Nero's mom paid no attention to it.

"In other news, the popular V-Pet toys, which hit the streets about a month ago, are regrettably having the older models recalled. Sources indicate that a glitch is in the coding that erases the data of any other V-Pet that it comes in contact with. Newer models may still be affected by this glitch, but do not harbor it," the anchorman reported.

Now dressed in a white jacket with a tie, Nero's mom called for Nero and told him she was leaving. Nero shouted goodbye from his room as she left. Nero returned his attention to the screen and heaved a sigh, simply watching other users play the game he created.

"Yggdrasil!" a voice called.

Nero looked around, wondering where the voice had come from. Figuring it was just his imagination, Nero tilted his head back and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Yggdrasil!" the voice called again, this time louder.

Nero once again looked around. Upon finding nothing again, Nero sighed and told himself he needed some rest.

"Yggdrasil, help us!" the voice called yet again.

Nero then discovered that the voice was coming from his computer. He looked closer at the screen and saw an almost human-like Digimon. It was actually a Wizardmon, a Digimon that wore a blue witch-like hat with a skull on it, a blue cloak and yellow pants with zippers that made the pants look like they had faces, and brown boots with moon-shaped emblems on them. He carried a staff with one end shaped like the sun.

"Lord Yggdrasil, please help us!" he said again, the screen becoming fuzzy with every word he spoke.

"Y-You…" Nero stuttered. "You just talked!"

"We have always been able to talk, Lord Yggdrasil," Wizardmon replied. "Now, please, we need your help."

Unsure if he was dreaming or not, Nero pinched his arm until he gave a yelp of pain. Realizing what was going on was real, he gathered his courage and looked at the Wizardmon on-screen directly.

"All right, Wizardmon," Nero said to the Digimon. "What is it you need my help with?"

"About a week ago, not long after you created us, a virus made itself known to us," Wizardmon informed.

"A virus?" Nero questioned. "That's odd, wonder why I didn't know about it? I mean, my firewall and security should've been able to pick it up."

"The virus is inside the program coding itself," Wizardmon explained. "It is weak at the moment, but it is currently growing stronger with every passing second. It has tainted the very souls of even the purest of Digimon and destroyed them, or in the worst case, corrupted them. Those corrupted lose their very soul and become slaves of the virus, helping it overtake, and possibly destroy, the Digital World. I'm warning you of this because, once it has finished its primary objective here, it's likely that it will come after your world. Please, Lord Yggdrasil, we need your help!"

Nero was startled by the news. Still, something as simple as a computer virus couldn't do all of that could it? Even if it could, Nero wouldn't give it the chance.

"I thank you for this information, Wizardmon," Nero stated. "Don't worry, I'm sending you assistance right now. I'll load an anti-virus program into the strongest Digimon I've created and send him to eliminate this virus before it even has a chance to spread its evil any further!"

Wizardmon faded from the screen and Nero immediately began loading an anti-virus program into Dorumon. The jewel on his forehead began to glow as the program was installed into his very being.

"Looks likes you finally get a chance to show what you can do, buddy!" Nero said with a pleased grin.

Once the program had been fully installed, Nero released Dorumon into the Digital World, designed with a program to help locate and destroy the virus. Figuring it would take a while to find, with so much traffic online right now, Nero left the monitor and went downstairs and into kitchen. He made himself a small dinner and ate it before watching some television.

Once he returned to his room, he assumed that Dorumon had done his duty and shut off his monitor. He turned off the light in his room and plopped himself down on his bed. Forgetting to change into his sleep clothes, he fell asleep.

Hours later, Nero was having a strange dream. It was a young and innocent voice calling to him, telling him that whoever was calling needed him.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" a voice rang throughout the room, waking Nero up.

Nero shot his head up and saw that his computer monitor had been turned back on. Realizing that voice was Wizardmon's, Nero quickly turned on the light and sprang to his desk. At first he thought Wizardmon was just going to thank him, but then he saw that Wizardmon had a very concerned look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Nero asked.

Without even saying a word, Wizardmon stepped aside to show Nero a scene that horrified him. It was Dorumon, severely injured and beaten with a black aura engulfing the lower part of his body.

"Dorumon!!!" Nero cried out.

"We found him like this about an hour ago," Wizardmon explained. "When we found him he uttered the following words, 'Tell Lord Yggdrasil…I'm sorry! I failed him'. He fell unconscious shortly after and has not woken since. The black aura you see if a small portion of the virus' power slowly consuming him. The anti-virus program within his body has allowed his body to fight it off, but with his current condition, I'm not sure he can hold it off for too much longer. If this keeps up, Dorumon will give his life just trying to prevent the virus from taking hold of him!"

"But how?!" Nero gasped. "How could Dorumon be defeated?! Even if he was somehow overpowered, he could just digivolve and…"

Nero suddenly stopped speaking and his eyes widened in horror. He remembered creating Dorumon, and what he had said about Dorumon being his Digimon.

"It's all my fault…" he said in disbelief. "Dorumon couldn't digivolve because he's my Digimon. Digimon with human partners are programmed to be unable to digivolve without them. It's my fault. Because of me, Dorumon will die. Because of me, my best friend is about to die…"

Wizardmon tried to say something, but Nero cried out so loud that he couldn't hear him. Nero couldn't understand why, but he was so attached to a mere computer program.

"DORUMON!!!" he cried. "I don't want you to die! You're the only one who I've ever been able to talk to! I don't know what to do! Please, just please let me save him!"

As Nero said this, his computer scanner on the side of his desk began to glow. He opened the white cover and saw a mysterious egg-shaped device inside. The larger section had a small visual screen on it, while the smaller section contained a large white button with three small blue buttons in a line below it. The entire device was a dark silver color.

"Huh, what's this?" he wondered.

"A Digivice!" Wizardmon gasped. "If you hold that up to the screen, you can cross a dimensional gate that will allow you to come here!"

Nero was a bit confused, but it was worth a shot. Dorumon needed his help to destroy the virus, and he would help him. However, he was a bit worried. Even if Dorumon was stronger, Nero remembered that he would need experience to be able to evolve to a higher level. In order to get it, he would need help. He instantly began creating more Digimon of strength close to that of Dorumon and began making copies of his Digivice.

"Darn, with all of the space the game takes up, I only have enough room left for 12 of each!" Nero thought.

Knowing that if he left for the Digital World, he wouldn't know how to get back and wasn't sure if he would be able to. He wrote a letter out on the screen, copied it into twelve private messages for the game, attached a Digi-Egg and Digivice to each one, and sent them.

As Nero did all of this, his mom came home from a late night of work and saw a light coming from upstairs.

"Nero, are you still up?" she called. "Do you know what time it is?"

When Nero didn't respond, she headed up to the room and poked her head inside. She saw Nero standing in front of his computer monitor with his right arm held out, the Digivice in his hand. Nero turned his head to see her.

"There's someone who needs me," he told her. "Goodbye, mom!"

A bright flash came from the computer screen and blinded Nero's mom for a brief second. As she lifted her head up, she saw that Nero had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a message on the computer screen. Nero's mom called out for her son in a panic, completely unaware of what was about to take place.


	3. Chapter 2: A Message from Yggdrasil

**Chapter 2: A Message from Yggdrasil**

As Nero traveled through cyberspace to the Digital World, his view was nothing but what seemed like an endless blue tunnel. He could see what resembled a white light at the end of it, but no matter how close he got, it never seemed to get any closer. He didn't care about that though, right now his only concern was Dorumon's health.

"I'm coming, Dorumon!" he told himself. "Just hold on a little longer! Don't die on me!"

Suddenly, the light at the end began to grow. As Nero reached it, he crashed through what seemed like glass screen, though there was nothing there but light. He felt a thud as he crashed face-first into something solid. He was in an awkward position, his legs in the air behind him and almost over his head. He fell onto his stomach and lifted up his head, his face covered in dirt and showing minor cuts.

"That could've gone better…" he moaned, sounding as if he was in pain, which was to be expected.

His face began showing some signs of hope as he gazed upon a very small village with the houses, or rather huts, made out of a straw-like material. Despite what they were made of, chances are they were made to be as strong as steel.

Even though it was very dark, something still illuminated the entire village. Nero gazed up above, where he took notice a large tree with white leaves, glowing ever so brightly. Nero sat himself up and looked around.

"This must the Village of Enlightenment! I designed this to be a place where In-Training Digimon could learn valuable information for when they became Rookies and were adopted by players. Then that means…" he said as he examined the surrounding area, pausing for a moment and then feeling over his body. "I'm really inside the game! I'm in the Digital World! This is unbelievable, I can feel everything!"

He then paused again, remembering Dorumon.

"That's right, first things first!" he thought as he stood up. "I've got to find Dorumon! He should be near here!"

Nero quickly darted towards the center of the village. The small living structures were all dark and the whole place was silent. It didn't take him long at all to reach it. When he arrived, he was able to make out the shape of Wizardmon. As he approached, he then saw that Dorumon was with him. Wizardmon was using his magic to try and heal Dorumon, but to little, if any, avail.

"Dorumon…" he uttered as he scooted his way closer.

Wizardmon immediately turned around, recognizing the voice in an instant.

"Lord Yggdrasil," Wizardmon greeted, getting down on one knee. "I humbly thank you for coming!"

No sooner than Wizardmon said that, the village streets began to swarm with In-Training Digimon of almost every kind.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" a Pagumon exclaimed happily.

"Lord Yggdrasil is here! Lord Yggdrasil is here!" a Koromon repeated, hyper as if it was on caffeine.

Nero didn't know what to do as the Digimon swarmed around him. Before they got too close, Wizardmon jumped in-between him and the Digimon.

"All of you are to go back to bed immediately!" Wizardmon ordered. "Cherrymon is coming tomorrow, and you all need your rest! Lord Yggdrasil is very busy right now!"

Despite how angry he sounded, Wizardmon never raised his voice once. The Digimon seemed to all groan in disappointment and slowly went back to their living quarters. After they had all disappeared, a white swan-like Digimon, about the size of a human, descended from the sky in front of Nero and Wizardmon. Her legs were protected by silver plates, and her heard was protected by silver-plated helmet. The tips of wings had a gray attribute to them. She also wore a silver pendant around her neck that covered her chest almost entirely, having the pattern of golden wings embedded on them.

"Swanmon, I didn't think you could make it!" Wizardmon gasped.

"Not to worry, I heard Lord Yggdrasil would be visiting and knew the children would get out of hand," Swanmon replied. "Elecmon graciously volunteered to watch over the newborns until my return. He really is a helpful assistant."

"Glad to hear it," Wizardmon responded.

Swanmon turned and noticed Nero just standing there.

"My lord," she said, bowing down. "My apologies! I did not know you were there."

"Honestly, you don't need to go that far," Nero replied, holding his hands up and showing he was receiving a bit too much respect. "Right now, I just want to see Dorumon."

Both Digimon nodded their heads and stepped aside, allowing Nero to approach Dorumon. Nero bent over and began petting the injured Dorumon, half of his lower body already black.

"Yggdrasil," Dorumon whispered weakly. "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" Nero responded. "I'm the one who sent you off on a suicidal mission. It's my fault!"

"No, it's not," Dorumon told him. "You gave me a simple mission, 'Destroy the virus at any cost!' However, it doesn't seem like I can do even that, even after everything you did for me. I'm a failure as a Digimon, and I deserve to die."

"Your mission said to destroy the virus," Nero replied. "Nowhere does it say you had to do it on your first try. If you die and let the virus win, then you really will have failed your mission."

Dorumon's eyes widened upon hearing the statement, he now knew how much Nero card for him.

"Yggdrasil…" he said weakly. "Thank you!"

Dorumon was bout to pass out, causing Nero to call out his name. Nero's Digivice began to glow, and the light from it chased the darkness off of Dorumon. Dorumon seemed to recover most of his life from the action, and was now resting peacefully. Uniting with his partner had caused Dorumon to activate the anti-virus program to its highest level, saving his life.

Meanwhile, the 12 eggs Nero had sent before he left were reaching the destinations that Nero had randomly selected. Tracing their paths, it was clear that four of them had remained with users on the Japanese server, two more were sent to England, one to France, two to Australia, two to the United States, and one to Malaysia. However, one of the paths through cyberspace did not take a straight path like all of the others. In fact, the path was going all over the place, and was still going. Since it was an egg heading towards an address on the Japanese server, it shouldn't have taken that long at all.

Upon closer inspection of the egg as it traveled through the virtual space, it could be seen that some malicious black cloud was chasing the egg. The cloud was fragment of the virus, meaning that the virus had realized what Nero had done. The egg was activating a special defense program to help it reach its goal safely, but the viral cloud was not about to let it get away. Slowly but surely, the viral cloud continued to gain on the poor egg. Before long, the cloud had caught up and enshrouded the cloud completely. It began to slowly taint the egg, turning the green spotted blue egg into an eerie black color.

In a last ditch effort, the protection program forced the egg to glow very brightly. The egg shot upwards and out of the cloud, leaving it behind. The egg didn't appear to have suffered immensely, only now it was a green spotted egg. The egg appeared on a computer monitor, attached to a message directed to a player with the username "LveBeauty923".

The young girl the account belonged to heard a strange noise as the message was sent to her computer. It was dark, and with no light in the room due to the late night/early morning time, nothing could actually be made out. The computer was on the opposite end of a rather large room, and the small light from the monitor could barely be light up anything. The computer had entered its sleep mode again, returning the game screen to a pitch-black screen and leaving the room in complete darkness. The girl rubbed her eyes and yawned, laying her head back down and falling asleep.

Messages were sent to accounts all over, but none were opened immediately. Hours passed, and schools in some places of the United States of America were just getting out. One boy in particular, a boy in Massachusetts, had just entered the front door of his house. He looked to be about 18 in age, probably on his last year of High School. For someone his age, he wasn't the tallest, only about 5 ½ feet in height, and was bit pale in skin color. He wore Hawaiian short-sleeved shirt over a standard T-shirt and khaki cargo pants to go with it. His pants were held up with a black belt, and a small watch could be seen dangling from the loops of the pants. His shoes were black. His blonde hair was long for a boy, tied in a ponytail that raced down to his mid-back.

As he walked down the hall of his home to his bedroom, not bothering to look around at anything of detail, a woman's voice called out to him.

"Andrew, is that you?" the voice called.

The boy ignored the call and just entered his room. When his mother received no response, she knew that it was indeed Andrew. Andrew was never very talkative, at least, not when the topic didn't drag him into a conversation. He threw his backpack onto his bed and sat down on a chair in front of his computer desk, books spilling out on the blue sheets. He usually finished his homework in school, or didn't bother doing it until he was ready for bed. He immediately turned on his computer and logged into the Digimon game, his username reading "The Golux".

"Huh? What's this? A PM?" he wondered as he noticed an unread message in his inbox. He thought it was spam at first and prepared to remove it, that is until he saw whom it was from. "Yggdrasil? THE Yggdrasil?!"

He quickly opened the file and noticed a message that read as follows:

"To whomever receives this message,

How would you like to join in on the ultimate adventure of a lifetime? Experience the Digital World in away you never thought possible, and fight alongside Yggdrasil himself in a battle that will determine the fate of not only the Digital World, but our own as well? Note that this is not something for those who aren't willing to risk their lives, and it is not something that should be taken lightly! This is a serious situation in which you'll probably want to tell your friends and family goodbye, as you may not see them again for a long time. If you are willing to accept such a mission, then click below and receive a rare Digimon with power unlike anything you've ever imagined. If you do not wish to accept this, which is to be expected, please forward this message to someone else. Be warned, once you accept, there is no turning back!

Signed,

Yggdrasil, Creator of the Digimon Game"

At first he thought it was just kind of joke. Why would Yggdrasil send some kind of message like this? What did he mean by all of it? Just as he was about to reject the offer, he seemed to hear a voice calling to him from inside of the computer.

"Help us, Andrew!" the voice called. "We need you! I need you!"

There was nobody else besides his mom in the house, and she wouldn't call for him like that. The game did not feature a voice chat, nor did you hear any actual voices while playing the game. Against his better judgement, Andrew went and clicked the link to accept. An egg appeared on the screen, and soon it began to hatch. Something shot out of the screen and into his lap. He freaked out for a moment before looking down and noticing the Digivice, his computer monitor unharmed.

"Is this for real?!" he gasped.

A couple hours later, another person in Nevada had recently gotten home. It was a girl about two years younger than Andrew, sporting a red, zip-up, short-sleeve hoodie over a white/gray/black camouflage shirt, slightly baggy denim jeans and red sneakers. She was rather scrawny and was a little over five feet in height. Her hair was long enough to reach her tailbone, brown with blonde highlights. It went well with her maroon-colored eyes. A black wristband could also be noticed above her right hand.

She turned to the living room where she saw a woman, her mother, and younger girl, her sister, watching television, cartoons to be precise. Because the leather sofa hid their backs, she could only see their hair. Her mother had long hair like her own, while her sister had much shorter hair.

"I'm home, mom," the girl alerted.

"Hey, honey," her mother replied, turning her head around to face her. "How was school, Ana?"

"Eh, it was all right," the girl answered.

Her real name was Raeana, her Japanese name, but since she was in America so her family could live with her father, everyone just seemed to call her Ana. Her mother replied with a usual reply and turned her attention back to the television screen. Her mom never asked her much more, but if she did, she migh've learned that Ana was among the silent group of kids. That's why her days were always "all right", because she didn't hang out with many people.

With the TV taken, Ana decided she would go and play on her computer. Her favorite game was currently the popular Digimon game. When she logged on, she saw a message, similar to that of Andrew's, appear. She looked over carefully and pondered. She thought it was hoax as well, but the mention of the world got her interested. Thinking that it might be some kind of new game feature, she accepted it. She was happy to accept a new Digimon, since her old one was not she really liked and put it up for adoption. Most players did such a thing until they found one they truly liked. Usually, once a player finally found a Digimon they liked, they would never abandon it.

As the egg appeared on-screen and began to hatch, a Digivice shot out of the monitor and onto her lap like it had previously done with Andrew. She jumped out of her chair and back, causing the Digivice to fall to the floor. It began to glow and a voice called out to her.

"Ana, don't be afraid," the voice said calmly. "I just want your help. We all do!"

She slowly approached the Digivice and hastily picked it up. Her hand began shaking as she held it in her hand.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she thought.


	4. Chapter 3: And so they Begin to Gather…

**Chapter 3: And so they Begin to Gather…**

Time had gone by surprisingly fast for Nero, even though he hadn't really done anything. It was already morning, and a pixel sun shined down from above. However, due to how far it was, seeing how the whole Digital World was like a parallel Earth, one could not tell any difference in the sky. Just the same, everything felt real, and staring into the sun would result in blindness like on Earth. Everything was digital, but completely real at the same time.

Dorumon was recovering rather nicely, currently playing with a small purple ball in the presence of Nero. He kicked the ball up into the air, bouncing it on his head, then his tail, then his arms, followed by his head again, his feet, and so on.

"You're pretty good at that," Nero complimented, smiling from just observing his partner.

"You never let me fight," Dorumon replied. "I had to find some way to entertain myself."

"I never imagined the lack of fighting experience would result in something like this," said Nero in a low voice, shifting his gaze away from Dorumon. "It really is my fault for what happened to you."

"You came here because you were about me, didn't you?" Dorumon asked. Nero's silence was enough of an answer, and Dorumon stopped playing and walked over. "Yggdrasil, you're my best friend, my partner! It's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself. I forgive you and you forgave me for failing. So don't worry, I'm going to make sure you get home safely, no matter what!"

"Thank you, Dorumon," Nero said to his partner.

Nero took out his Digivice, wondering if anyone would actually join his quest. To his surprise, he counted three red dots. He quickly corrected himself when he noticed one more that he had overlooked. There were already four others currently travelling in the Digital World. His message had gone through.

The closest red dot wasn't far off from the Village of Enlightenment. It was actually located in the center of the neighboring forest known as the Training Forest. The name came from the fact that it was used to teach the In-Training Digimon how to battle against foes. The deeper you went in, the stronger the Digimon became. By the time an In-Training Digimon made it through, they would more than likely have become a Rookie and be ready to go to the village not far beyond, a village used to house Digimon to be adopted by players. However, not all Digimon went to the village. Those that didn't would become either rogue Digimon that players could battle for experience, or NPC characters that would offer hints, become temporary allies, or work at a shop somewhere in the Digital World.

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Alex?" someone moaned.

Two characters appeared from behind some trees as they trudged their way through the forest. One of them was a Digimon. It was a Rookie-level Digimon about two feet tall and sort of resembled a human lizard, at least in the main body area. The head was more spherical, containing two large, pointed ears that stuck out in the upper back. The Digimon itself was blue, containing shades of on the belly and snout. A tiny horn stuck out where the nose was, and a yellow "V" was present between its two pinkish-red eyes.

The other character was a human, a girl to be precise. She had brown that wasn't short, but not too long either. She wore a white T-shirt with a red "V" on the front. She also wore white shorts and white boots to match. Around her pair of brown eyes were glasses, causing her not to give off the fighter-like appearance that her clothes seemed to suggest. In age, she was presumably three years older than Nero. In her right hand lay a Digivice.

"You're the one who told me to head towards the red dot," the girl sighed. "Or did you already forget, Veemon?"

"I said I 'think' you should head towards, Alex," Veemon responded.

"How could you not know? Don't you, oh I don't know, live here?" Alex grumbled. "I got this Digivice when your egg appeared on my computer screen, I figured you would at least know what to do?"

"All right already, I get it!" Veemon replied. "Let's just keep following it."

"The one day I get up early for school and all the teachers go on strike," Alex sighed, talking to herself. "I just hope this adventure is what I expect it to be."

Veemon recalled that when he saw Alex through the computer screen, she seemed rather excited about the adventure. Unlike the others who had received Digivices, she believed it immediately, as if her instinct told her to believe it from the moment that she laid eyes upon the message.

Veemon looked on ahead and noticed a tree that was much lower than the others. Closer inspection revealed it to be apple tree, with the apples big and ripe. Without even telling Alex, he charged forward and rammed his head into the tree, holding out two arms immediately after. The vibration shook the tree and an apple plopped into each hand. Alex was impressed and clapped.

"Thank you," said Veemon, taking a bow.

He held out an apple and gave it to Alex, whom took it and thanked Veemon. Alex became happy again, or appeared to at least, making Veemon happy as well. He smiled and began eating the apple.

Meanwhile, in another area of the Digital World, a boy about two years older than Nero had recently appeared in a desert-like region. He had short, thick black hair and blue eyes. He wore a loose-fitting, short-sleeved, blue button shirt over a white T-shirt. The blue shirt was only partially buttoned, though nobody could be sure if it was due to laziness or comfort, which was more than likely the latter. He also wore brown shorts and a pair of sandals that were made out of a bamboo-like material.

The boy looked around curiously, noticing a Digimon by his side. The Digimon was known as PawnChessmon, and it greatly resembled a black pawn from a chessboard combined with a suit of knight armor. It carried a spear, a small round shield, and wore a bronze knight's mask. On top of its head was a pointed tip.

"See, I told you it was real, Zaki!" the Digimon said in a boastful tone, the voice hard to understand underneath the mask that could not be removed.

"I don't believe it!" the boy gasped.

Only minutes ago had Zaki accepted the invitation from Yggdrasil. He never really believed it, and had a hard time believing that Digivice he had received was real. When he picked it up, a voice told him everything, yet he still refused to believe. Regardless, he went and asked his father, whom didn't care at all what Zaki did. He only cared if it made him angry, which was quite often. By the time he had returned, the egg on the screen had hatched and the Digimon had already evolved to its Rookie stage. If a Digimon was strong enough, usually only after being reborn, they could skip the first two stages of life. However, such an action prevented the Digimon from receiving a huge amount of experience that would later be used to help reach a level suitable for digivolving into Champion or higher.

In another part of the Digital World, walking through a Digimon-populated city, was Andrew. He had entered the Digital World and was now looking at his Digivice.

"There sure are a lot Digimon here, Kudamon," he said to a white pipe fox Digimon with yellow marking on its legs and back along with a yellow ring around its neck, perched around his neck like a scarf.

"What did you expect?" the Digimon replied. "You are in the Western Capital City."

"Western Capital City?" Andrew repeated as he questioned Kudamon.

"The Digital World is divided into four quadrants," Kudamon explained. "The capital of each quadrant is the most populated city in the area. Most of the main game servers connect to one of these cities. Most players, such as yourself, don't bother to pay attention to them though."

"I see," Andrew replied with a small sigh. "Anyway, how do you expect us to reach the locations marked on the Digivice? They're at least half a quadrant away!"

"Don't worry," Kudamon told him. "The Trailmon service trains run from the city outwards. Though they'll take you to most places, the only place they allow passengers to board is in a city. If I'm not mistaken, the next one leaves in ten minutes."

"Then let's not waste any time!" Andrew stated, slowly increasing his walking speed until he broke into a run.

Raeana, or rather Ana, was also in the Digital World. Her location was some old ruins in the middle of open grass field. The ruins had no name, they were just there for decoration and held no real importance. Some players liked to use spots like this as meeting places for field missions. Ana looked at her Digivice and saw that she still had a distance to go.

"Break time's over!" she announced. "Let's go, Guilmon!"

A red dinosaur-like Digimon, no taller than an older elementary school student, perked its head up from behind some rubble. It had what appeared to be black bands around its wrists, black triangle-like symbols on the backs of its hands and feet, under its eyes, and smack-dab in the middle of its forehead. Its belly was white with a black hazard symbol on its chest, and it had a long lizard-like tail. Its ears looked like little bat wings, and its feet had two toes. Its hands had white pads with three long claws extending from each hand. Its eyes were yellow, and its pupil could change from looking like that of human and that of a lizard.

"Coming!" Guilmon shouted in an innocent, child-like voice.

After making their way through the forest and traveling for at least an hour, Alex and Veemon finally came to the end. After pushing through a bush, the two found themselves just outside of the Village of Enlightenment. Alex looked down at her Digivice and saw that they were very close to the red dot.

"Looks like we've found somebody," stated Alex. "Maybe it's Yggdrasil!"

"We won't know until we look," Veemon reminded.

Inside the village, Nero continued watching Dorumon play.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" a voice called.

Nero turned and saw that all o f the In-Training Digimon had gathered around.

"We were wondering if you'd play with us?" they all requested.

"Wait just a minute!" Wizardmon yelled, rushing over. "You all are supposed to be with Cherrymon!"

A pink marshmallow-like Digimon with long floppy ears, Koromon, began hopping up and down.

"We finished our lesson already!" he informed.

"Really?" Swanmon questioned as she floated down from above. "You were actually well-behaved and didn't drag on the lesson?"

The Digimon all nodded, and Swanmon and Wizardmon could tell that they were not lying. Wizardmon sighed and agreed to let them if Nero allowed it. Before Nero could give an answer, the young Digimon all began swarming around him. Just as Wizardmon and Swanmon were about to push them away, Dorumon's voice rang out.

"EVERYONE BACK OFF!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

His tone carried such an intensity that all of the In-Training Digimon froze in place and slowly backed away from Nero. Swanmon and Wizardmon remained frozen in place, completely stunned. They both knew that, even though he was only a Rookie, Dorumon was not a Digimon to mess with when angry. Dorumon quickly realized what he had done and apologized. The In-Training Digimon apologized as well, asking Dorumon to forgive them.

"I know Dorumon said he'd protect me," Nero thought, shocked as well. "But I never knew he was this overprotective!"

Dorumon forgave the young Digimon and Nero came up with an idea. He picked up Dorumon's ball and held it out.

"I've got a great game, and a great way to increase Dorumon's experience," Nero announced, tossing the ball to Dorumon. Dorumon and the Digimon all looked up with great curiosity. "I want all of you to work together and try to take the ball from Dorumon. Just the same, you, Dorumon, must keep the ball away from them."

"What?!" Dorumon gasped. "I can't keep it away from this many In-Training Digimon?!"

"Ooh, I'll do it!" a floppy-eared gray Digimon, Pagumon, volunteered.

"So, MY partner is going to let himself be outdone by a stage 2 Digimon?" Nero snickered.

Dorumon gave a low growl and instantly threw the ball into the air, catching it as it fell.

"Come and get me!" Dorumon dared.

As the young Digimon began chasing Dorumon all over the village, Alex and Veemon arrived on the scene. Alex quickly took notice of Nero. She looked at her Digivice and saw that the signal was coming from him.

"A boy?" she thought. "I see, he must've gotten the letter too!"

Alex and Veemon made their way over to Nero. Nero's Digivice began to beep and he quickly took it out. He saw the signal approaching and looked up, seeing Alex and Veemon.

"Hi," Alex greeted. "I'm guessing you got the message as well?"

Nero instantly realized that she didn't think him to be Yggdrasil. He gave a slight smirk.

"Well, I received a message," he replied, referring to his message from Wizardmon.

"Anyway, I'm Alexandra Yamamoto, but everyone calls me Alex," Alex said, her tone sounding as if she was happy to meet Nero. "My partner here is Veemon."

"Pleased to meet ya!" Veemon said, holding out his hand.

Nero stood up and held out his right hand, grasping Veemon's and shaking.

"I'm Nero Arakaki," he stated. "It's nice to meet you both. My partner is Dorumon, he's the one currently running away from the horde of In-Training Digimon."

"Ooh, let me join in!" Veemon begged.

"Sure, go ahead!" Nero replied. "You can be on Dorumon's team. It looks like he needs some help."

Veemon ran off to join the fray. When he met up with Dorumon, he told Dorumon the situation and Dorumon tossed him the ball. Veemon began showing off some tricks and he balanced the ball in various ways while he kept it away from the Digimon. A Pagumon lunged at him and managed to knock it away. Dorumon held out his tail and caught the ball before it fell into the crowd. Veemon instantly became jealous when Dorumon began performing harder stunts with ball as he kept it away.

"That's it, he's my rival!" Veemon declared under his breath.

As the Digimon all played, Alex was busy talking to Nero. Nero had asked what Alex thought Yggdrasil was like. She pictured him as a guy closer to her age or older. She figured he was either some kind of handsome devil who happened to be intelligent, or some older computer genius that had graduated from college recently.

Eventually, the young Digimon chasing Dorumon and Veemon grew tired and could no longer continue. The two Rookie-level Digimon had won. Swanmon and Wizardmon were both pleased with result and sighed with relief, knowing that the young Digimon would be napping for a while and giving them some time to relax. Dorumon and Veemon both panted heavily.

"Not bad," Dorumon complimented.

"Heh, you're really good yourself!" Veemon said back.

Dorumon carried the ball as he and Veemon returned to their partners.

"We were great out there!" Veemon boasted. "You should've seen us!"

Dorumon noticed Alex and was surprised to see another human. Nero had not yet told him about what he had done.

"Yggdrasil, who's your friend?" he asked.

"Y-Yggdrasil?" Alex stuttered. "Y-You're Yggdrasil?!"

"Yeah, I am," Nero admitted. Ignoring her stuttering, Nero turned his attention to Dorumon. "Her name is Alex, and she and Veemon are going to help us!"


	5. Chapter 4: First Strike!

**Chapter 4: First Strike!**

The sun was past the middle sky, showing that it was already sometime in the afternoon. A bus pulled up to the corner of a street and opened its door. Out came a young girl no older than 10 years old, sporting blue jeans and a peach-striped short-sleeve shirt, a very nice one that probably cost quite a bit for someone her size. Her long black hair, streaked with small blonde lines, seemed to jump with her as she jumped off the final step to the ground below. She turned around and thanked the driver, a necklace with the symbol for love clattered against her chest as it remained around her neck.

She faced forward again and walked to a rather large house for the area, about half the size of an inn. Interesting thing was, her house was located only a bit more than three full blocks away from the elementary school she had just gotten back from. Even if she was only ten, her classmates didn't like that she took a bus for such a short distance. As she entered the house, it was rather quiet. Both of her parents worked high-paying jobs, but usually one of them was home at about the time she got off of school. She heard the sound of a vacuum go off and realized that the maid her family had recently hired was there, meaning that both of her parents were probably going to be working late. The maid was a close family friend of her mother, so she was trusted completely.

The girl sighed as she gazed over at a small table near the front entrance; on it were pictures of family members. Her eyes became fixated upon a picture of a girl that looked like an older version of her. Underneath the picture was a small golden label reading the name "Michiko".

"Oh, sis," she sighed. "Things just haven't been the same since you left on your music tour."

The girl quickly glanced at a picture of herself, the name "Aimi" underneath it, then at another picture of Michiko from when she was Aimi's age.

"Heh, she always did take a better picture," she thought as she began heading towards her room. She sat down in front of her computer. "Might as well play some Digimon, it's not like I'm going to be able to during the next few weeks when we're on that big school field trip to America."

Her parents had no problem with letting her go on the trip, they let her do pretty much anything she wanted to. She got rid of the screensaver on the computer and noticed that message from Yggdrasil was on her computer. She immediately remembered the light from the previous night and realized that it was due to the game appearing on the screen. Still, the game shouldn't have done anything of the sort while the screensaver was on. She read over the message over and over again. She had always wanted to meet the infamous Yggdrasil. She accepted the invite.

A Digivice emerged from the monitor and plowed into her, pushing her and the moving chair backwards. Her hands began to burn a tiny bit and she looked at the strange device in her hands. Her eyes blinked continuously as she examined it, unsure about what to do. A voice called to her, calling her by name and begging her to come and help.

"Are you a Digimon?" Aimi asked.

"I'm not just a Digimon," the voice replied. "I'm your partner! The Digital World needs your help, Aimi! Please come, now!"

"Digital World?" she pondered as a small grin beginning to appear on her face. "Sounds better than America!"

She wasn't quite sure about what was meant by the Digital World. She thought it was some kind of special trip in the Real World, unaware of where she was really headed or the danger she would put herself in. By reading the message she assumed she would be gone about the same amount of time as if she were to go on her school's trip. She wrote a note telling her parents that she was going to spend the night at a friend's house, her parents wouldn't say no after all. She looked at the monitor again, thinking that there were directions to go to a bus stop or something. She got a bit too close to the screen and her Digivice reacted, causing her to get sucked into a portal.

Meanwhile, in the Digital World, Alex was seen walking on the edge of the Training Forest while talking to Nero. Dorumon walked alongside Nero and Veemon walked alongside Alex.

"So the reason you need help is defeat this virus that threatens to destroy the Digital Workd, and possibly our own?" Alex questioned.

"That's correct," Nero confirmed. "The virus was created as a part of the coding, and it's currently beyond my control to stop. At the moment, it won't show any effect on a computer, but nobody knows when it could become something of devastation. A simple virus or ordinary program won't stop it! So, I installed a special anti-virus program into Dorumon before I sent him out to find the virus and destroy it, but even that wasn't enough. When Wizardmon asked me for help, I knew that Digimon had become real beings beyond what I had created; I had to come and help them! Still, I can't believe that a mere virus can do all of this!"

"Hold on a second!" Alex exclaimed. "You said you based this off a digital pet, right?"

"Um…yeah," Nero replied.

"I think I know where this virus came from," Alex informed, recalling something on the news she saw recently. "You see, a glitch in the v-pet causes it to erase the data of any others it comes in contact with. It's possible you had one of the infected ones, and therefore created the virus along with everything else. My theory is that it took on the form of a Digimon and evolved along with them. Considering how many Digimon there are in the game, it's likely the reason why it's so hard to find. And as you have said, if this is real, then so is the virus!"

Nero was surprised by her theory, and what surprised Nero even more was that it was probably right.

"So, how many others are there?" Alex wondered.

"Well, apart from you and me, there should be eleven others," Nero answered, looking at his Digivice. "Right now, six others are currently here."

A red dot suddenly appeared on the Digivice, startling Nero for a second.

"No, wait!" he announced. "There's one more! Hmm, that's strange…"

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"According to this," Nero replied, holding up his Digivice. "The person is right here! But I don't see anyone."

Nero and Alex both looked with puzzled expression at the Digivice, Dorumon and Veemon wondered what was going on as well. Their attention soon shifted to a mysterious, orange, very small Tyrannosaurus Rex-like Digimon that ran past them. The Digimon came to a stop and walked backwards.

"Say, you're humans, aren't you?" the Digimon questioned.

"Yes," both answered.

"I'm Agumon, and I'm looking for my human partner. They should be right around here some-" the Digimon replied in a child-like tone. The Digimon suddenly stopped talking as it peered up into the sky. "Uh, I wouldn't stand there if I were you."

Dorumon and Veemon both stepped away as the humans looked up. There was a loud crash as Aimi landed on both of them.

"Ouch, that hurt!" she cried out.

"Not…as much…as…it hurt…us…" Nero uttered.

Aimi looked down and saw that she had landed on both Nero and Alex. She quickly got up and apologized.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Alex told her, standing up.

The two brushed themselves off as Agumon introduced himself to Aimi. Aimi was a bit startled, but she didn't freak out or anything of the sort. Nero finally took a good look at Aimi and became worried.

"A kid?!" he gasped. "Oh boy, I wasn't expecting this!"

"What do you mean by that?!" Alex retorted. "You created this game, don't you know how popular it is? What do you think that chances of kids playing it are?!"

"I know," Nero mumbled. "I just wasn't expecting someone as young as her to get involved in this. Great, now this has me wondering how many other kids are here."

"Why not just send her back?" Veemon suggested.

"I, kind of, don't know how to do that," Nero admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"You DON'T know?!" Alex growled. "How can you not know?!"

Nero simply gave an embarrassed chuckle at Alex's question. Alex sighed and realized that Nero regretted sending the messages out randomly. Knowing that they would simply have to protect her, Nero and Alex introduced themselves to Aimi. Aimi knew that Nero was Yggdrasil, because she had heard part of his conversation with Alex.

While Alex talked to Aimi about things a mother would normally tell a child in such circumstances, Agumon told Nero about how violent his trip was when he was in the egg. Though he obviously didn't know exactly what had happened, Agumon knew that something had attacked him. Nero could assume that it was the virus, meaning that the virus knew about his plan.

"This can't be good!" thought Nero.

Just as he was thinking that, a familiar voice called out for him. It was Swanmon.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" Swanmon called, landing in front of him as he turned to face her. "My lord, we have trouble! One of the Digimon in the Training Forest had digivolved into a Champion-level Tyrannomon. The problem is, the Tyrannomon is a black color and is heading towards the village with intent to attack. Wizardmon is holding it off, but the Digimon is too strong!"

Nero looked at Dorumon, whom nodded his head in response. The two ran off towards the opposite end of the village. Realizing that there was trouble, Alex and Veemon followed. Alex asked Swanmon to keep an eye on Aimi and Agumon, and she agreed.

The group finally arrived on the scene, Wizardmon was barely holding the foe back with his constant wave of attacks. The Digimon had become DarkTyrannomon, a black Tyrannosaurus Rex-like Digimon with green scaled spines running down its back. Red stripes ran across its snout, arms and legs, while what appeared to be brown leather bands were around its wrists. The muscles were quite noticeable on its white chest and belly region.

Wizardmon was knocked backwards as the Digimon swung his tail at him with the force of a train made from iron. Nero and Alex ran up to him.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked, helping him up.

"I've been better," Wizardmon responded. "Anyway, we've got to stop him before he gets to the village! I've just about reached my limit, this guy's too much!"

"Don't worry about it!" Nero announced.

"Yeah, we'll get him!" shouted Dorumon happily. "It's about time I did what I'm supposed to!"

As DarkTyrannomon grew closer, the corrupted Digimon began forming flames in its mouth. The Digimon unleashed a large fireball in Dorumon's direction.

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon shouted as he opened his mouth, releasing a barrage of small metallic projectiles at the fireball.

The projectiles hit it in the center, the two attacks canceling each other out in the clash.

"He's strong!" Wizardmon gasped. "It took all of my power just to make my Thunder Ball do that much!"

DarkTyrannomon swung his tail at Dorumon, forcing him to jump and avoid it. DarkTyrannomon quickly released another fireball attack in the direction of Wizardmon.

"I've got this one!" Veemon announced, jumping in the path. "Vee Punch!"

Veemon lunged at the oncoming ball of fire and punched it, destroying it. This action surprised both Alex and Wizardmon.

"That was great!" Alex complimented, clapping her hands.

"He's pretty strong too, stronger than me at least!" Wizardmon thought.

Veemon's hand began to throb red with pain, having burnt it when he punched the fireball. He began hopping all around, saying "ouch" and "owie" as he shook it wildly from pain, looking around desperately for some water. Alex and Wizardmon weren't sure about whether they should be laughing at the sight or embarrassed by it, causing them to stare blankly.

Meanwhile, Swanmon stood in front of Aimi and Agumon while she waited for news from the others. A strange growling sound filled the air around her, causing her to jump up and turn around.

"Stay away from her and-" she exclaimed, quickly pausing in the middle of her sentence.

Turns out that the growling was coming from Agumon, whom had walked up behind her. His stomach was making the noise.

"I'm hungry," he announced.

Swanmon heaved a sigh of relief and nearly fell over. Aimi gave a small chuckle, though she admitted that she was hungry too.

Dorumon continued to avoid DarkTyrannomon's attacks. DarkTyrannomon unleashed a massive burst of flames at Dorumon.

"Metal Shoot!" Dorumon shouted as he held his mouth open, releasing a shockwave that kept the flames at bay.

DarkTyrannomon grew extremely tired, it was using every attack it could while Dorumon was saving his energy, that's why Dorumon seemed to have so much more power.

"Do it, Dorumon!" Nero ordered.

"Right!" Dorumon yelled, the jewel on his forehead beginning to glow. "Take this, DAV Beam!"

The DAV stood for "Digital Anti-Virus". The jewel released a thin white laser beam in DarkTyrannomon's direction. The beam struck the Digimon in the chest, forcing the darkness surrounding the Digimon to recede into a hole on its chest. The darkness separated from DarkTyrannomon, becoming a ball that floated into the air until it dispelled completely. DarkTyrannomon fell to the ground, now an ordinary Tyrannomon with red where there used to be black and black where there used to be red.

"I'm…sorry…" the Digimon muttered before disappearing into a bright light, an egg appearing in its place.

"Because Tyrannomon was newly evolved, he wasn't able to prevent himself from becoming an egg after that attack," Nero explained. "He must've been infected for a quite a while too, otherwise the beam wouldn't have been so effective."

Nero gazed up towards the sky as he began thinking about the situation.

"I'm afraid of how powerful our enemy must be if they were able to defeat Dorumon so easily," thought Nero.

Meanwhile, a girl with appeared to be long green hair sat beside a large blue lake, letting the wind blow through it and rattle her four looped ponytails. She wore a white T-shirt, the sleeves and collar of the shirt black, and also wore khaki cargo shorts. Her shoes were black sneakers, and her eyes were blue. She held up her Digivice and looked at it, noticing the three dots gathered together. By looking at her, she didn't appear to be any older than a teenager is.

"Looks like that's the hotspot," the girl said. "It's too nice here, though. Let's stay a little longer, then we'll go. How's that sound, Kotemon?"

A Digimon that had a body resembling Veemon's, the color in a much lighter shade of blue, stepped forward. All of its upper body was concealed by the armor someone taking kendo classes would wear, the face hidden by a mask that made it impossible to see what it really looked like. Two yellow eyes made themselves visible through the mask, and the Digimon had two metal horns sticking out from the top of the head.

"That's fine, Yotsuba," the Digimon replied. "I'm not quite done with my training anyway."

Yotsuba looked up towards the sky and saw that it was beginning to turn orange. The sun was just starting to set.


	6. Chapter 5: Three Days ‘Til Darkness!

**Chapter 5: Three Days 'Til Darkness!**

As Nero and the others gathered around Tyrannomon's egg, a mysterious little Digimon hovered in the sky above. It was a DemiDevimon, a Digimon resembling a bowling ball with wings. It wore a blue mask that covered its yellow eyes, small stitches present and two antenna-like flaps emerging from it. A white skull lay smack in the middle of its forehead, while it's blue mask-covered wings sprung out from its upper back. Underneath the mask lay a black-furred body with a mouth, skin of a lighter shade of blue around it. The Digimon had two sharp claws out of both of its feet, as well as one sticking out from the rear, much like the talons of a hawk. The Digimon had no hands or arms.

"Not good!" the Digimon told itself. "Not good! The master's not gonna be happy about this."

The Digimon flew off into the sunset while Nero and the others brought the egg to Swanmon, who was still watching over Aimi and Agumon. Swanmon proceeded to wrap Tyrannomon's eggs in small bandanna-like sack. She then wrapped it around her neck, making sure the egg was tightly fastened.

"I'm sorry I have to go so soon, but I'm afraid I must take this egg back to the Village of Beginnings," she apologized. "It was nice to finally meet you, Lord Yggdrasil."

"It's all right," Nero replied. "Don't worry about it! Just make sure you take good care of that egg."

Swanmon bowed and said goodbye to the others as well. She then flew off, the egg tightly secured in order to avoid a bumpy ride.

"I've decided that we should leave here as soon as possible!" Nero announced, receiving a somewhat surprised gasp from the others. "If the virus knows about my plan, then it'll keep sending Digimon like DarkTyrannomon after us. This village will constantly be in danger should we stay too much longer."

"But we didn't get anything to eat!" Agumon complained, referring to himself and Aimi.

"Come to think of it, I'm sort of hungry too," Alex admitted.

"Me too!" Veemon added.

Nero turned to Dorumon, who admittedly nodded his head. Nero heaved a sigh.

"I don't think one more night would hurt," Wizardmon stated. "Please, allow us to offer you a meal and a place to stay as gratitude. I'm afraid we can't do much else."

"That'll be more than enough, thanks!" replied Nero.

As the sky grew dark, humans currently in the Digital World began finding a place to settle in for the night as well, obtaining food if they could. Andrew was probably in the most comfortable spot, the seat on the train cushioned rather nicely. He was in a lay back position across the seat, sound asleep already from the boring ride. Kudamon lay curled-up on Andrew's stomach region, sound asleep as well.

Meanwhile, DemiDevimon approached a large medieval-like castle in an unknown section of the Digital World. A vast forest of unfamiliar trees surrounded the castle. As the Digimon flew through a small window, he eventually came to a very large chamber. A lone pillar of blue light stood in the center. A small black creature lay inside the pillar of light, impossible to actually make out.

"Master!" DemiDevimon cried out.

The mysterious being perked its head up a bit, revealing a pair big blue eyes.

"What is it now, DemiDevimon?" the creature asked. "This better be important!"

"It is, master! Trust me!" DemiDevimon assured. "It's about-"

Before the Digimon could say anymore, a small black paw emerged from the light and tapped the Digimon on the forehead.

"Say no more," the creature told the Digimon. The creature was actually reading DemiDevimon's mind, gaining sight of everything the Digimon had seen. "I see. Thank you for the information!"

The creature tone had become darker, as the creature was now furious at what it had seen.

"Belphemon!" the creature roared in a voice so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire castle.

"Ooh, somebody's in trouble!" DemiDevimon chuckled.

Within the next twenty seconds, a Digimon burst into the chamber, nearly stumbling on the way in. The Digimon was very large, though the chamber was amazingly big enough to fit it. The Digimon was covered in black fur, a red mark shaped like a bat on its muscular chest and red, almost zigzag-like lines outlining where the legs joined the pelvic region. It had a very beast-like muzzle with sharp red eyes. Two goat-like horns were perched atop its head, and green-glowing chains bound the Digimon's muscular arms. The wings on its back looked like those of a black and purple dragon's.

"Y-Yes, master?" the Digimon stuttered in a somewhat scared voice.

Belphemon was a Digimon of incredible power and never truly showed signs of fear, he only showed anger. It something frightened him, one knew there was incredible danger.

"Belphemon!" the creature growled. "I thought I told you to either corrupt Dorumon or kill him, so why is he still alive and fighting on Lord Yggdrasil's side?!"

"I infected him, just like you told me!" Belphemon replied, a hint of panic present in his voice.

"Yes, you did tell me you dealt with him," the creature responded. "However, I also remember you telling me that he was a weakling and could never be a threat. If that's true, then tell me how he was able to defeat DarkTyrannomon so easily!!!"

Belphemon gulped as if his demonic heart had leapt into his throat. For something to inspire so much fear inside of Belphemon, the creature must be none other than the virus.

"S-Surely he's no match for you, master," said Belphemon.

"Flattery won't get you out of this one!" the virus barked. "Because of you, Lord Yggdrasil was able to meet with a few others who could pose a threat! However, I'm willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself for your failure. I need you to separate Lord Yggdrasil from that accursed Dorumon and bring him to me! My plans can't succeed so long as Dorumon is around."

"So, you're asking me to go find Yggdrasil and bring him here?" Belphemon questioned.

"No, not you yourself!" the virus explained. "Sorry, but with your anger issues, if Dorumon gets under your skin you might harm Lord Yggdrasil. Do whatever it takes to bring him to me, but I need you stay away from him for now! Also, I want you to take HIM with you."

"Him?!" Belphemon gasped. "B-But master, he won't listen to anyone but you! He's completely unstable, it'd be worse than taking on Yggdrasil myself! At least I don't lose control at random times!"

"I know, but he needs the experience," the virus sighed. "You have an order, so follow it! You have three days to come up with a plan. By then, he should hopefully have calmed down enough to be taken on a mission. Remember that it's possible that in the future he'll be stronger than the lot of you. Right now, he's the best bet for taking out Dorumon."

With that the virus shifted his blue eyes in the direction of one of the castle's towers, a tower that was locked by an old wooden door covered with seals. The inside was pitch-black, that is until a very small amount of moonlight began to shine through the iron bars of a small window. One could just barely make out the shape of a black-furred Digimon inside curled against the wall. A gray horn lcould be seen for a brief second as the moonlight hit it.

"Master, what should I do with the others?" Belphemon asked.

"Anything you want," the virus answered, though the look in its eyes suggested something quite sinister. "Just make sure they can't interfere…ever!"

"As you wish, master," Belphemon cackled, an evil grin appearing on his face.

Back at the Village of Enlightenment, it was already getting really late. Aimi was asleep while Dorumon as a pillow. Nero had only agreed to it because she had been complaining about not having a comfortable place to sleep. Due to Dorumon's furry body, Nero asked Dorumon to help her out. Dorumon didn't really mind too much, and Aimi fell straight asleep anyway. Agumon slept next to her.

Alex lay down on the grass next to Veemon, staring up into the night sky that looked no different than it did on Earth. She regretted not having brought a sleeping bag at first, but soon forgot all about that. A wind began to blow across the area, it wasn't strong, but it felt kind of relaxing. When Veemon finally fell asleep, Alex was about to doze off herself. That is, until she noticed that Nero was still wide-awake.

Nero was just staring off into the distance. He took a glance at his Digivice and noticed that another dot had appeared. This one was at least ¼ of the planet away.

Meanwhile, in the said area, a girl with long black hair had arrived on an island in the middle of one of the Digital World's oceans. The island was a fairly big size, housing a small village, a city, a forest, and a volcano. She was in the middle of the forest. The girl wore a short light blue dress with white dress-shoes and long gloves.

Running up to her came a strange-looking Digimon that resembled a kid in a black executioner's mask. The Digimon had light blue skin and wore long black pants. Instead of a shirt the Digimon had what looked to be blue wings that were tied around the Digimon. It also wore blue and black shoes with three sharp red nails sticking out from the front of each, and black buckled wristbands and black armbands. The Digimon's right eye was red while the left eye was green. He also had eyes of the same colors on the palms of each of his hands.

"I assume you're the one who called me here?" the girl guessed.

"Yup," the Digimon confirmed. "The name's Dracmon, and I'm your partner!"

The Digimon held out its right hand, giving a mischievous grin.

"Nice to meet you, Dracmon," the girl replied. "I'm Sandra."

Sandra was rather unenthusiastic with her greeting. She refused to shake the Digimon's hand, not trusting his smile. Dracmon sighed and put his hand back to his side.

"You're no fun," he moaned.

As Sandra tried to decide about what to do now that she arrived, a couple of Digimon appeared from behind a tree. They were Goblimon, a green goblin-like Digimon an orange Mohawk on its head. The Digimon wore a brown open vest on their upper bodies and some torn brown shorts that were held up with a brown belt. Both of them carried wooden clubs.

"Well, well, what have we here?" one Goblimon asked.

"Looks to me like we've got some trespassers in our area of the forest," the other cackled.

Sandra wasn't really spooked or anything by them, more like annoyed. These Digimon seemed more like ones somebody should be disgusted with than afraid of.

"I'm sorry, guys," she apologized. "I wasn't really intending to end up here. It just sort of happened."

"Listen, girlie!" one of the Goblimon growled. "We don't want excuses!"

Both of them approached the girl who appeared to be about age 18. Dracmon jumped in the path and glared at the two Digimon.

"My partner said she was sorry," Dracmon stated in a threatening voice.

"And just what do you plan to do, shrimp?" one of the Goblimon chuckled.

A smirk ran across Dracmon's face as he held out both of his arms, facing his palms at the two Goblimon.

"Eye of Nightmare!" he shouted.

The eyes on his palms released two energy rings at the Goblimon. The two Digimon were too stupid to avoid it, not thinking Dracmon could be any sort of a threat, causing them to take a direct hit. Their eyelids closed halfway and the two Digimon faced each other.

"Now, why don't you two give each other a couple knocks on the head until you learn to be more polite towards a lady?" Dracmon snickered.

The two Goblimon began banging each other on the top of the head with their clubs. They continued doing so until both of them passed out. Dracmon fell to the ground laughing.

"It wasn't THAT funny," Sandra told him.

Dracmon stopped laughing and stood up.

"You really are no fun," he pouted.

Sandra held out her arm and patted him on the head gently.

"Well, thanks for helping me anyway," said Sandra with a smile.

"Eh, maybe you aren't so bad," Dracmon complimented in return.

Back at the Village of Enlightenment, Nero had finally fallen asleep close by Aimi and Dorumon. Little did he know that his mother had been able to watch everything from the computer monitor, though that wasn't too surprising. She smiled and left monitor, heading towards her room. She had taken the day off from work, too worried about her son to go. She had only said she was sick, knowing that nobody would believe the truth. However, having witnessed the battle against DarkTyrannomon, she knew that she could trust Dorumon to look after him. She would be able to attend work the next, knowing that he would be safe. Naturally, whenever she had the time, she would never hesitate to return to the screen to watch over her son and his friends.

Nero's mom lay in her bed wondering if the other children who had entered the game had parents watching their actions. Also, if they could see what was going on, how long would it be until others found about the ongoing events?


	7. Chapter 6: Those Who Came

**Chapter 6: Those Who Came!**

In the real word, an unoccupied computer monitor, somewhere in Australia, illuminated a dark room, a new message icon flashing brightly. The message was from Yggdrasil, and it had been sent to player of the Digital World game whose username was "Sapphire-Phoenix".

Meanwhile, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, a jet flew just over a violent storm as headed towards the continent and country of Australia. Even above the clouds the sky was black, the only light being the stars above. It was very late, or early depending on how you put it, in Japan the clocks would read almost four in the morning. The plane sifted violently as it experienced turbulence, waking a few of the sleeping passengers inside.

One of these passengers was a boy who appeared to be about age 16. His hair was so messy it was hard to determine if it was more red or brown. It was short, so it didn't cover his blue eyes. He wore a short-sleeved navy blue polo shirt with two yellow stripes up the sides, along with a white T-shirt underneath. His pants were long black cargo pants that completely covered his white socks, which were also hidden inside his dark blue sneakers.

The boy looked out the window and heaved a deep sigh, trying to close his eyes again, but unable to.

"What's wrong, Brandon?" a female voice asked, the voice seemingly coming from a woman behind him.

"Nothing, mom," the boy replied. "I just can't sleep. So much for a smooth ride!"

"It was worth the trip though, wasn't it?" his mom asked. "You had fun visiting grandma and grandpa, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Brandon sighed. "I just feel like there's something else I should be doing right now."

A few hours passed by, and in the Digital World, the humans and their Digimon partners began to stir; or at least, most of them. The Digital World was round like the Real World, so the time zones were different as well. However, if a person in Japan played with someone from the United States, and if the player from Japan visited an area that would represent the United States, the Japanese player would experience the same time of day in the game as the player from the United States.

The areas where most of the humans that came to the Digital World landed were chosen based on nearby areas that the players had gone to when Nero first sent out the Digivices. So, even if they had gone to other sectors afterwards, they would still end up back where they were originally. Naturally, they only landed in areas in the same sector, the actual location varied.

As Nero and the others awoke, stretching themselves out, Nero took out his Digivice and was surprised to find that twelve people, including himself, were already in the Digital World. Nero remembered the events from the previous day and was relieved to find out that they had not come under attack during the night.

"We should get going!" he announced. "Who knows when the virus will launch another attack!"

"Can't we get something to eat first?" asked Agumon.

Nero sighed, knowing that eating something would be a good idea. Still, Agumon ate the most out of everyone the previous night, Veemon coming in second. Dorumon would've probably eaten a lot as well if he had not been in Nero's presence.

"Why did I program you guys to eat so much?" he mumbled.

Alex and Aimi both giggled at Nero's expression. Meanwhile, near the border of the current sector and the next, in an area known as the Dragon Spring Mountains, one boy was still asleep inside of a cave.

The Dragon Spring Mountains consisted of fairly weak Digimon for a border, but most players still avoided the area. Truth be told, the Digimon that could be considered the area's boss was Gaiomon, a Mega-level Digimon. Very few, if any at all, players currently had Digimon with enough power to take down a Mega on their own, and finding others of a strong enough level to help was difficult. Still, Gaiomon did not care if any players were in the area, and would even allow passage if they asked him for it, so long as the players could resist the urge to obtain the powerful items that he guarded. Most boss-level Digimon had some kind of powerful item that could be obtained if beaten.

In addition, Gaiomon was also the guardian of the Dragon Springs Village, which housed several young dragon-type Digimon. Gaiomon would attack any player that tried to enter the village if he viewed them as untrustworthy.

The boy inside of the cave remained sound asleep. He looked to be about Brandon's age, and he wore what looked like a school uniform, though gray instead of blue or red. He looked quite strong for his age. His hair was black, and it was neither long nor short.

A Digimon approached the boy, a Ryudamon to be precise. Ryudamon was a yellow dinosaur-like Digimon, almost like a young raptor. The Digimon covered its back with a thick black armor with purple laces running through it. The Digimon also wore a bronze helmet with a red jewel on top, covering most of its long brownish-red hair that was tied in a ponytail. Ryudamon also wore a pair of armored gloves with open slots for the claws.

"Hikaru-sama, wake up," the Digimon said in a kind female voice.

The boy did not stir, causing Ryudamon to try shaking him while calling his name at the same time. The boy simply turned on his side and waved his hand in his sleep, trying to signal the Digimon to leave him alone. Ryudamon heaved a sigh and tapped him in the back of the head with the back of her armored glove. The glove was hard, resulting in the boy quickly getting up and grabbing the back of his head.

"Glad to see you're finally awake, Hikaru Kusanagi," Ryudamon stated.

"What the heck was that for?!" Hikaru growled.

"We need to get moving, Hikaru-sama!" Ryudamon replied.

Ryudamon used the Japanese honorific "-sama" to show Hikaru respect and show him that she served him. The fact that she had earlier used his full name meant that she was slightly annoyed with him.

"All right," Hikaru groaned as he stood up and brushed himself off. He took a looked at his Digivice and saw that three of the dots were already together. He assumed that the others would head there as well. "Guess we should head west."

"Very well," Ryudamon responded.

"Think we could stop for some breakfast on the way?" Hikaru asked.

"That would be wise," answered Ryudamon, causing Hikaru to believe that she was hungry too.

By the time mid-day had arrived, Nero and the others had also begun their trip through the Training Forest, already nearing the end. They fought a few wild Digimon for experience, but most seemed to avoid them, sensing the strength of the three powerful Digimon. Nero remembered the events from before they left, when Wizardmon and the In-Training Digimon wished them luck and said their good-byes. Nero carried a sack on his back that had been given to them by Wizardmon, food for later. Agumon continuously trailed behind him.

"Keep doing that and you'll be the last to get ANY food when we finally do eat," Nero told him.

"Sorry, Lord Yggdrasil," Agumon apologized.

In another sector of the Digital World, in one of the oceans to be precise, a boy that appeared to be at least 18 was travelling in a small boat across the water. The boat was more like a small ferry, carrying a few other Digimon as well. The wind blew through his short blonde hair, allowing his blue eyes to show clearly on his face. He currently wore a plain red and white sweater, the sleeves rolled up, and long black pants.

"Aren't you hot wearing that?" a female voice from behind him questioned.

The boy looked back and saw a green, vividly colored tropical fish-like Digimon traveling in the water. The Digimon had a red mouth and teeth of a piranha, though the look in its big yellow eyes suggested that it was quite friendly.

"I'm fine, Swimmon," the boy assured.

"You don't look all that fine, Aaron," the Digimon replied. "Once we get to Lava Resort Island, we're getting you some new clothes!"

"Would you prefer it if I changed back into a suit?" Aaron asked in a sarcastic tone. "By the way, what kind of a name is Lava Resort Island? It doesn't sound that peaceful."

"Lava Resort Island is tourist attraction for Digimon everywhere," Swimmon explained. "It has an active volcano, but it's designed to only send lava away from the town. It's a very low-class volcano, but it creates enough lava to expand the size of the island by an inch or so every year."

Aaron took a look at his Digivice and saw that there was someone on the island. In fact, that's the main reason they took the detour trip instead of a direct trip to the main land.

"Think the infamous Yggdrasil is on that island?" Aaron wondered.

"Doubt it," Swimmon answered. "Still, it would be good to meet up with whoever is. They might need some help."

Back on Lava Resort Island, Sandra and Dracmon had entered the city region of the island. Sandra looked at her Digivice and saw that someone was heading in her direction.

"So, what should we do while we wait?" Sandra wondered.

"There's a restaurant over there!" Dracmon alerted, pointing towards the end of a street. "Let's grab something to eat."

"All right, but you better not get us a kicked out," Sandra replied. Sandra took out a small wallet and opened it. "One question, how am I supposed to pay for all of this? I don't know if real money will work here."

"Don't you have any Digidollars on your account?" Dracmon questioned.

"Well, yeah, but I don't know how to…" said Sandra, stopping when she saw Dracmon put up his finger in an effort to signal her to stop.

"That Digivice you hold should have your memory stored for that kind of information," Dracmon informed. "Any other Digimon you might have had in the game have been stored on a server in a sleeping state. You can't access them from here. However, you can access any items or money you had by tapping it on the menu on your Digivice. There is one catch, once you withdraw something, you can't put it back, so only take it out if you need it."

"I understand," Sandra replied, a bit surprised by Dracmon's knowledge.

In yet another sector of the Digital World, in a small old-western kind of saloon, a young girl about 9 years old was seen helping set up some tables. The saloon was located in Sand Town, a town that got its name from being located in the middle of a desert. This was not the same area that Zaki and PawnChessmon were located in. In fact, both of them were now in an open field-like area beyond the desert they first appeared in. The saloon itself contained a small inn on the second and third floor.

The girl had long brown hair that went to her shoulders, her skin pale and eyes brown. She wore a white tank top with a light blue short-sleeved, zipped-up jacket. In addition to that, she wore faded denim jeans and white socks with white sneakers.

As she did her work, her partner sat on a stool, talking to a Digimon shaped like a silver star; he was known as Starmon. The strange thing about her partner was that her partner Digimon was Veemon, not the same Veemon that was partners with Alex, but a different one.

"Thanks again, Starmon," Veemon said to Starmon.

"Hey, don't mention it," Starmon replied. "You're just taking care of your human partner, something I never thought I'd see in this world. I admire your dedication to protect her, the least I can do is offer you a room and food until you meet up with the others you mentioned."

"Jillian, you don't have to do that anymore!" Veemon called to his partner. "Starmon says you've done more than enough to help already!"

"It's all right, Ms. Jill," Starmon added. "Please, come and have a snack before customers start showing up."

The girl's name was Jillian Parker, though most people called her "Jill".

"All right!" she said, walking over.

Jillian and Veemon began eating some special soup that Starmon had given them.

"Digitamamon spent a while on this one," Starmon informed. "How's it taste?"

"Tell him not to change a thing," Veemon replied.

"It's delicious!" Jill complimented.

"So then, how are old are you, little lady?" asked Starmon, trying to start a conversation.

"I'm nine," Jill answered truthfully, sounding a bit depressed. "To be honest, my brother should be the one here instead of me. The Digivice came out of the computer while I was using his account. I didn't even tell him or my mom where I was going. I'm sure they're worried about me."

"Yes, Veemon told me already," Starmon responded in a kind tone, hearing more than what he asked.

"Don't worry, Jill! I'll protect you!" Veemon promised.

"You two may here as long as you like," Starmon told the Digimon and his partner. "Helping me won't be necessary anymore, though I would appreciate if you became Digitamamon's taste-testers."

"That sounds like a fair deal," Veemon agreed.

Fortunately for them, another human was in the sector, the opposite end and heading their way. It was an 18 year-old boy, though he was a bit short for his age, only 5 ½ feet tall. He had short and spiked hair, dirty blonde with auburn highlights. He wore a very fancy-looking blue buttoned shirt, the sleeves about mid-length. He also wore long white pants with gold-colored stripes going down the sides.

The boy was sweating a bit, only natural from walking in the desert. Luckily for him, or maybe not so lucky, it would be dark in a few hours.

"You're not helping!" he shouted as he felt the heat near him increase.

To his right was a Digimon that resembled a candle with arms and a face, the top slightly melted. Perched upon the wick atop his head was a flame with a face as well. The flame was actually the Digimon's Digi-Core, and blowing it out would kill it.

"How exactly am I supposed to help you, Conrad?" the Digimon asked. "I'm a candle, something used for light and heat."

"You can start by getting me to the nearest town, Candlemon!" the boy complained. "My clothes are going to smell like sweat after this!"

"Perhaps if you stopped barking orders and started walking, we could get there before sundown!" the Digimon retorted. "I'm trying to get you there quickly, but you keep complaining about everything."

Conrad looked up towards the sun in the sky. He heaved a sigh and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his arm.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said. "The heat's just getting to me."

As the sun began to set off in the distance, and everyone in the various areas began getting ready for the fast-approaching night, Conrad and Candlemon had managed to make it to Sand Town.

Meanwhile, Belphemon was slowly gathering up his forces in his sector, the same sector Nero and the others were in. The amount of time before he would make his move was slowly running out.


	8. Chapter 7: Descendant of Darkness!

**Chapter 7: Descendant of Darkness! BlackGabumon Appears**

The moon slowly rose into the sky over the Digital World as everyone set up his or her camp. While Nero's group sat down in a clearing with several large and flat rocks scattered about, a mischievous little Digimon known as DemiDevimon flew up to one of the towers at the virus' castle. He landed on a small ledge just outside the window and peered in. Turns out it was the same tower holding the Digimon the virus mentioned the other day.

"Psst! Hey!" he called.

It was still too dark to inside, but it appeared that the Digimon inside perked its head.

"What do you want?" the Digimon asked in a male voice, his tone showing no signs of enthusiasm.

"Nothing," DemiDevimon replied. "I was just surprised by how calm you've been lately."

"This cell is designed to keep my emotions under control, you know that," the Digimon groaned.

"No, that's not what I meant," responded DemiDevimon. "What I meant was that, I just thought you wouldn't go through with the news so easily. I know how much you and Belphemon don't get along."

"News?" the Digimon wondered, his interest piqued. "I wasn't told anything. What news is this?"

"Hmm, I thought that Belphemon was supposed to tell you," DemiDevimon pondered. "Figures he wouldn't want to, knowing how angry you'd get."

"What news was this?!" the Digimon demanded to know, now knowing that there was a key piece of information that he needed to hear.

"Well, the good news is you're finally going to get to go out in two days," DemiDevimon informed. "The bad news is that you are to help Belphemon and listen to him. The master says you need the experience, and you still aren't trusted enough to do anything on your own."

"What?!" the Digimon roared. The Digimon darted down the tower stairs and finally came to the locked door. When he couldn't open it, he began ramming his body against it. "Master!"

DemiDevimon had already it made down into the room beyond the door, and could be seen talking to the virus.

"Belphemon didn't tell him, did he?" the virus asked DemiDevimon.

"Nope," DemiDevimon answered. "I just hope I didn't do something bad by telling him. He's still unstable!"

"Relax," the virus replied with a small chuckle. "He hasn't lost control, he's just ticked off. Go ahead and open the door."

"Yes, master!" DemiDevimon exclaimed, quickly flying over to the door and opening it with his feet.

The Digimon inside fell to the floor and the door opened in front of him, finally revealing what he really looked like. He was a gray-skinned reptile-like Digimon about 2 ½ feet tall. His belly had more of a cream color, along with some symmetric white motifs. He had a thick tail, with regularly-spaced bumps on its top, held up in a semi-erect position. His back was covered in a black pelt, several white incomplete lines running across his head, ears, arms, and back. The pelt covered the arms, but only the forelimbs. The Digimon appeared to hold the pelt in place there with unnoticeable handles, claws present at the end of each. Four teeth were also present on each side of the pelt's muzzle, and there was a hole in the top for the Digimon to poke its large gray horn through. He had yellow eyes, but without enough light they almost looked gray.

The Digimon groaned as he pushed himself back onto his feet. He ran over and stood in front of the character inside the beam of light.

"Master!" said the Digimon. "Is it true?"

"Yes, BlackGabumon," the virus confirmed. "You are to go with Belphemon in about two days! You're not ready to fight without supervision, yet. That is an order!"

"Why?!" BlackGabumon complained. "If you're going to force me to go, can't I at least go with one of the others?"

"It's Belphemon's blunder, so he needs to fix it!" the virus stated. "However, with his power and lack of intelligence when it comes to reserving it, I can't trust him to take out Dorumon without hurting Lord Yggdrasil. That's why I want you to go! You're mission is to prevent Dorumon from interfering by any means necessary! You're the only one strong enough, but also weak enough at the same time."

BlackGabumon looked up with eyes of a bit more hope; he actually had a chance for praise if he succeeded.

"Dorumon?" he questioned.

The virus held out his hand from the beam of light and gently tapped BlackGabumon on the forehead, transferring the memories he had received from DemiDevimon to him.

"Now tell me, do you honestly think you can take him on in your current condition without losing control?" the virus asked.

BlackGabumon didn't answer; he merely turned his gaze towards the ground. He sighed and turned his back.

"Listen, I'll make you a deal," the virus proposed. "I'll allow you to go out and do as you wish, so long as you promise me you won't do anything stupid and you'll obey Belphemon when you leave!"

"Fine," BlackGabumon mumbled in a voice so low that it was almost impossible to hear.

BlackGabumon took the opportunity to walk out the entrance and head into the forest.

"Keep an eye on him," the virus ordered, talking to DemiDevimon. "I have a feeling he's going to do something very stupid."

Meanwhile, Andrew and Kudamon had arrived in an eastern area of the Digital World earlier in the day, much closer to Nero's group than they had previously been. However, in order to get to where they needed, they first had to pass through the Forest of Confusion, a forest full of trees that resembled those from the dinosaur age. The real problem was the fact that a thick layer of fog covered the entire area, making it very easy to get lost.

"It's already dark!" Andrew pointed out. "How close are we to the exit?"

"We should be close," Kudamon assured.

"That's what you said a couple hours ago," Andrew reminded. "We're lost!"

Kudamon heaved a sigh and began concentrating his energy as if he was about to attack. However, he never released an attack, but the pattern on his back did glow enough to produce a fair amount of light.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Andrew asked in an annoyed tone.

"I didn't want to waste energy," Kudamon answered. "I can only do this for so long, so hurry up and move. Trust me, we're going the right way. We were close before, but I changed direction because I sensed a powerful group of Digimon nearby. I'm not strong enough to take them on by myself yet."

"Oh!" said Andrew, now feeling a bit bad about his behavior.

Kudamon looked off in the distance, he could just barely see Maze Castle. Maze Castle was an old castle filled with countless paths that were even more confusing than the forest. It was considered the lair of the true boss of the sector. Gaiomon was a boss, but not the mandatory boss in the game. So far, no player had yet to make it to the end, though many players were actually more than strong enough to actually defeat the boss if they encountered him.

Having finished eating, Nero's group decided that they should all get some rest for the next day. Dorumon curled up right against Nero's side as he lay down. Aimi complained about not being able to sleep if she didn't have a pillow, but fell asleep anyway while sitting up against a rock. She was a child, and whether she would admit or not, she was too tired to keep complaining. Agumon slept right beside her in the same position. Veemon was sound asleep, but Alex was not quite yet. She looked around at the others and saw that everyone but Nero was asleep. Nero stared up into the sky with cold eyes, causing Alex to believe he was angry about something. In truth, he was just in deep thought and would fall asleep soon enough. Dorumon was the only one close enough to him, besides his mom, who knew that Nero always had that look. It was just a habit that nobody could explain.

Back in Sand Town, Conrad and Candlemon ended up walking into the saloon Jillian and Veemon were in. The two sat down at an open table, several Digimon were inside. They were seemingly ignored and looked at a menu on the table. Jillian was currently in a room upstairs, sleeping. Veemon sat at the bar and could be seen talking to a Labramon, a dog-like Digimon based of a Labrador with reddish-pink ears, a reddish- pink tail, and big gold nails. Its hair nearly covered its brown eyes, which had reddish-pink stripes underneath it. Both Digimon seemed to be laughing about something.

"And then…" said Veemon, stopping his sentence when he noticed Conrad at one of the table. "Um, would you excuse me for a moment?"

Veemon hopped of the stool and approached the table that Conrad and Candlemon were out.

"Um, excuse me," he said politely.

"Yes, are you our waiter?" Conrad replied.

"No, no, nothing like that," Veemon responded, holding his hands out and waving them. "You're a human, right? I need to talk to you about something."

Veemon began explaining the current situation he was in with Conrad. Conrad asked if they could finish the discussion after he and Candlemon had gotten something to eat. After ordering, the two began eating their meals while Veemon told them everything. Conrad wasn't thrilled with the idea of dragging a child along, though he did agree that she would need protection.

Meanwhile, BlackGabumon walked through the large forest area surrounding the castle the virus was located in, quickly approaching the edge. He stared blankly in front of him, a nearly invisible wall of energy stood in front of him.

"They're not far from here, I can feel it," thought the Digimon.

As BlackGabumon reached out, a voice called to him and told him to stop. BlackGabumon turned and looked up; DemiDevimon was flying directly towards him. The small Digimon hovered in front of him and began panting heavily.

"Y-You can't go out," DemiDevimon informed. "If you leave you won't be able to get back without one of the seven lords accompanying you, or until another Digimon on the inside lets you in. You know that the master doesn't want anyone find this place."

"I know that!" BlackGabumon growled. "However, I have a feeling that Dorumon and Yggdrasil aren't too far from here. If I leave now, I might be able to catch him in a weakened state and defeat him."

"What?!" DemiDevimon gasped. "You've gotta be kidding! The master told you to stay away from him for now!"

"But the master also told me that I stood the best chance of defeating Dorumon," BlackGabumon reminded, giving a sly grin. "If I defeat him, the master will have no reason to get angry."

Before DemiDevimon could reply, BlackGabumonn jumped through the wall, appearing just outside. He looked back and saw nothing a very large mountainous area behind him. The virus had created a barrier that acted as if the castle and forest never existed. If a Digimon were to climb the mountains, the barrier would give the impression that Digimon was actually doing so, even causing them to exert the same energy. In a sense, climbing the mountains was the same thing as walking on top of the barrier. That's why it was an unknown sector.

"Make sure you let me back in! I'll be done by tomorrow afternoon!" BlackGabumon shouted as he ran off.

DemiDevimon just watched him run off from inside of the barrier.

"Not good! Not good!" he told himself.

On Lava Resort Island, the two humans and their partners had yet to actually meet. They were close and they knew it, but always ended up passing each other by without noticing on several occasions. They ended up staying at separate hotels on the island, hotels that were actually right across the street from each other.

Morning arrived rather quickly, and Zaki and PawnChessmon were the first to awaken. Zaki actually had trouble sleeping, the two had spent the night beside a river. He splashed water in his face to help him stay awake and yawned. PawnChessmon suggested gathering some fish as long as they were by the river, a suggestion in which Zaki had no complaints about.

Nero's group awoke and stretched themselves out. Amazingly enough, everyone, even Aimi, had slept quite well. It may have been due to the quiet and tranquility of the area. Since it wasn't an area filled with too many wild Digimon, at least not yet, most players would avoid it. The group took out what some more of the food that had been prepared by Wizardmon and the In-Training Digimon. Even with the amount of food Agumon and Veemon ate, they had enough to last them for one more meal. After finishing eating, the group decided it was time to keep moving. Nero glanced at his Digivice; they weren't too far from a couple more signals.

"Let's go!" Nero announced. "I'd prefer to meet up with at least one of the others by tomorrow."

As the group faced away from the large rocks and began heading off towards a city almost a day's trip away, they were stopped by a voice calling out to them.

"Hold it right there!" the voice yelled.

Nero and the others turned to see BlackGabumon perched atop the largest of the rocks. He was panting very heavily, like a marathon runner after a 10k race. He had been running all night and morning.

"I finally…found you!" BlackGabumon stated.

"Who is that?" asked Alex. "A friend of yours?"

"Sorry, I don't know him," Nero answered.

"Well, whoever he is, he stinks!" Dorumon exclaimed, placing his hands over his nose.

BlackGabumon nearly fell over at the comment, his eyelids twitching.

"Ugh, you're right!" said Veemon, placing his hands over his horn.

"Even for a Digimon, that's bad!" Agumon whined, doing the same as the others.

Nero, Alex, and Aimi couldn't smell anything, their sense of smell nowhere near as great. BlackGabumon grew very annoyed with the comments, trying as hard as he could to suppress his emotions.

"You try running around for hours, you jerks!" he barked. "It appears that all you're good for is making rude comments! I can't believe a Digimon like you was able to beat DarkTyrannomon so easily!"

Dorumon's eyes changed to angry glare as he took a battle-ready pose. Hearing that name was more than enough evidence that BlackGabumon was a Digimon corrupted by the virus.

"DarkTyrannomon?" Nero pondered, remembering the black Tyrannomon. "Then I guess that means you know about the virus!"

"My master has no need to be worried about weaklings like you," BlackGabumon spat. "You're not even worth an army. As much as I hate to say it, even that jerk shouldn't bother wasting his time with you!"

Agumon and Veemon stood by Dorumon's side, ready to attack as well. Alex pulled Aimi behind her.

"Get him!" Nero ordered.

"Once I defeat you and take Yggdrasil back to the master, he's sure to see that I don't need anyone to watch over me!" BlackGabumon declared, preparing to attack. "Blue Blaster!"

BlackGabumon opened his mouth and released a stream of blue flames at the three Digimon. The three scattered, easily avoiding the attack. Veemon lunged at BlackGabumon, but BlackGabumon simply grabbed Veemon's extended arm and threw him to the side. Veemon skid across the ground and pushed himself up.

"He's stronger than I thought!" he admitted.

Agumon opened his mouth and shot a fireball at BlackGabumon. BlackGabumon countered with his own attack, resulting in a small explosion. BlackGabumon emerged from the small smokescreen that was created and tackled Agumon, slamming him to the ground. BlackGabumon made eye contact with Agumon, holding out his claws as if he was ready to strike. However, for some reason, he couldn' attack. Dorumon quickly charged at the Digimon and headbutted him, knocking him away from Agumon.

"Blue Blaster!" BlackGabumon yelled as he got up, opening his mouth to shoot more blue flames at Dorumon.

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon shouted, countering the attack with projectiles from his own mouth.

Dorumon's attack was slightly stronger, but the end result was the same as the clash between Agumon and BlackGabumon. When BlackGabumon tried charging at Dorumon the same way he did Agumon, Dorumon held out his arms and held the Digimon back, pushing him backwards.

"I don't believe it!" Nero gasped. "He's almost as strong as Dorumon!"

Nero was confused by BlackGabumon's strength. Nero could tell that he was a Rooki-level Digimon, but he was stronger than DarkTyrannomon. If the virus could make a Rookie so powerful, how strong could it make a Digimon of a higher level?

"Dorumon, do it!" Nero ordered.

Dorumon's forehead began to glow. BlackGabumon knew what was coming and quickly pushed Dorumon back, jumping back himself.

"DAV Beam!" Dorumon called out, unleashing the attack at BlackGabumon.

BlackGabumon quickly stepped aside, just narrowly avoiding the beam.

"That was close!" he thought. A surge of pain suddenly shot through BlackGabumon's body, causing him to grab his head. "What's wrong with me?"

BlackGabumon crouched down in pain, the look from Agumon's eyes earlier appearing in his mind. He wondered why he couldn't attack Agumon. The pain continued to surge throughout his body, increasing after every second. This fight was too much for him, he knew he couldn't win. He let out a cry of pain, puzzling Nero and the others.

"Yggdrasil!" Dorumon called. "Run! Quickly!"

A dark aura surrounded BlackGabumon's body as he opened his mouth, firing his Blue Blaster attack in random direction. The aura surrounded the flames, increasing their size and power to the point where it caused small explosions when it made contact with the ground, setting the field on fire. Nero and the others all ran from the scene, trying to get away from BlackGabumon. Dorumon and the other Digimon sought out and opening, but the heat from the flames was too great.

Just then, a large black lizard-like Digimon with four devil wings of the same color, the bottom wings actually smaller, descended from the sky. It had four blood-red eyes, and had long arms black and brown wristbands. The tail was just about as long as the arms, and the legs were quite muscular. The Digimon's ears resembled bat-like wings.

"That's a Devidramon!" Nero pointed out.

Devidramon fired two thick beams from its eyes, striking BlackGabumon with full force and rendering him unconscious. The Digimon swooped down and snatched BlackGabumon, flying away rather quickly. Nero and the others could only watch as the Digimon flew away. As soon as BlackGabumon was taken away, the flames began to die out, leaving a huge section of the area scorched.


	9. Chapter 8: Dorugamon Takes Flight

**Chapter 8: A New Set of Wings! Dorugamon Takes Flight**

With the fight against BlackGabumon behind them, Nero and his group finally arrived at the city. The sun was already setting in the sky by this point, turning the sky a beautiful variety of red and orange colors. Some of the buildings in the city were already starting to turn on their lights.

"Welcome to Neon City, everyone!" Nero announced. "The busiest city in the eastern quadrant of the Digital World, apart from the capital itself."

"If that's true, where are all of the Digimon?" Aimi questioned, noticing that the city had only a small amount of Digimon wandering the streets.

"Well, this is more of a nightlife city," Nero replied. "During the day only the standard supply shops are open, and it's rather dull. However, at night the streets light up with a variety of colors, and several stands open, most consisting of valuable items players have put up for sale or trade. There are also several mini-games that Digimon here can participate in, and they occasionally offer cool prizes. Within the hour, the streets here will swarm with Digimon belonging to players worldwide."

"So, we'll be staying here tonight I assume," said Alex.

"You got it," Nero confirmed. "We'll probably meet up with a couple others while we're here, and we won't have to worry about an attack at night. The virus seems to try and avoid drawing attention, and it's way too overpopulated here at night."

Nero was right. After about 50 minutes had passed, the city streets were crowded, several Digimon crowding around stands in an effort to get their hands on whatever items they could. Nero and the others walked down the street in a less crowded part of town. They passed by what looked like a large gymnasium. A large display board outside advertised a basketball game going on. Sign-ups were going on now and would close in about half an hour.

"Yggdrasil, can we play?" Dorumon requested.

Nero looked at Dorumon, who looked back with wide eyes and a wagging tail. He knew how playful Dorumon was. Since it wasn't a game that required strength, he didn't see the harm in letting him play.

"Sure, why not?" he replied.

"If Dorumon's playing, then so am I!" Veemon declared.

"Oh brother," Alex sighed, knowing that Veemon just wanted to try and beat Dorumon.

"I'll just watch," Agumon stated, more interested about getting snacks.

As the group entered the building, they failed to realize that another human was approaching just approaching the town. None of them had checked their Digivices since the morning.

On the outskirts of the city, Ana and Guilmon were slowly approaching. Ana glanced at her Digivice and saw three signals within the city limits.

"I guess we're lucky they were headed in our direction, huh?" she asked Guilmon, whom nodded in response. "I just hope we can find them."

Meanwhile, in a mysterious yet familiar looking castle, one that could actually be identified as Maze Castle, BlackGabumon was finally waking up. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up in the middle of a large room, looking around holding the top of his head.

"Where…am I?" he asked himself, continuing to look around. "I remember fighting Dorumon, but everything else is a blank."

"Finally awake?" an angry voice growled.

BlackGabumon turned to his right and saw Belphemon looming over him.

"Don't tell me…" BlackGabumon muttered in a low voice, turning away from him after figuring out what happened.

"You idiot!" Belphemon roared. "Honestly, I don't know why the master cares about you! He even told me not to punish you, seeing how the knowledge of your actions should be punishment enough. You could've gotten killed, or even worse, killed Yggdrasil! If DemiDevimon hasn't warned the master of your actions, you would've undoubtedly destroyed yourself. Devidramon barely showed up in time to save you."

BlackGabumon didn't turn around to face the Digimon, he only squinted his eyes. His body twitched with every comment, as much as he hated Belphemon, he was right.

"Just shut up!" he cried out. "I was doing fine. I just, for some reason…"

"You lost control, just like the master said you would," Belphemon stated, knowing that BlackGabumon wouldn't admit the rest aloud. "Tell me, were you really doing just fine?"

BlackGabumon didn't answer. He didn't want to admit it either, but Dorumon was stronger than he was.

"Perhaps maybe now you have some incentive to listen to me," Belphemon sighed. "Anyway, I've already gathered up the forces I need. I don't need an extra day! Now watch, tomorrow my first plan should work out so well that the other plans won't be needed."

"You sound a bit overconfident," BlackGabumon retorted.

"Coming from you, that's rather funny," Belphemon responded, causing BlackGabumon to pout. "Just watch! We'll capture Yggdrasil with as little confrontation as possible. Then Dorumon should be easy to dispose of."

"You're going to fail," said BlackGabumon, his tone giving him a know-it-all attitude. He stood up and began walking down a hall. "Where am I staying in this dump?"

"Outside if you don't knock it off," Belphemon growled.

"I'm telling the truth," BlackGabumon replied with his back still turned. He was almost out of hearing range. "I fought him, so I can tell you that from personal experience."

Back in Neon City, Nero, Aimi, Alex and Agumon all sat in the stands as they watched Dorumon and Veemon play basketball with other Digimon. Dorumon was on a team with a blue and white wolf-like Digimon named Gaomon. Gaomon, although he was more of a wolf, resembled a walking, talking dog. A purplish miniature dragon-like Digimon called Monodramon was also on his team. Monodramon had yellow markings on the top of his head, shoulders, back of his hands, and embedded into his forehead.

Veemon's team consisted of himself and an anthropomorphic brown bear-like Digimon called Bearmon. Bearmon had blue cap that he wore backwards on his head and had a strap run down his left should across his stomach. A belt was also rolled around each of his hands. Also on Veemon's team was a Goblimon. Though it looked identical to the ones that had attacked Sandra, it was clearly a different one.

Though the game was technically basketball, Digimon were allowed to use their attacks on both other players and the ball. However, should the ball be destroyed as a result, or should a Digimon be badly injured, the Digimon responsible and their team would be disqualified.

The orange ball came flying in Veemon's direction. Veemon took a battle-ready pose and raised his arm.

"Vee Punch!" he shouted as he punched the ball, hurling in the direction of the hoop Dorumon's team was defending.

Gaomon leapt into the air, spinning like a tornado and knocking the ball away from the hoop. Bearmon ran up to the ball, but Monodramon quickly intercepted it. Monodramon dribbled the ball as he darted across the court. As he jumped into the air to hover and take a shot at the basket, Goblimon threw his club upward and knocked the ball out of Monodramon's hands. Dorumon caught the ball and dribbled it, making his way to the basket. Veemon intercepted him in the path, ready to try and take the ball. Dorumon immediately jumped, leaping over Veemon and slamming the ball into the hoop. The crowd of spectators cheered wildly as the game came to an end. Dorumon's team won with 44 points, while Veemon's team had only 31 points. Dorumon's team was award with 1,000 Digidollars and a bunch of healing discs, items used in the game to restore health points. Nero looked at the menu on his Digivice, now noticing that he had ten discs available for use.

"It's not fair!" Veemon grumbled as he returned to the group. "Dorumon can fly and I can't!"

"That's the poorest excuse I've ever heard," Nero replied with a small laugh. "Sure, Dorumon has wings, but I can assure you that he cannot fly. Dorumon's wings are specifically designed to increase the height of his jumps. By flapping his wings at the right moment, he can increase the force of his upward motion, allowing him to jump even higher. Now, before you blame that as an excuse, let me say that Dorumon never used his wings once. Had he used them, he would've probably hit his head on the ceiling."

Veemon looked back and grumbled to himself.

"Hey, it was a good game," Alex told him in an effort to cheer him up. "You were great!"

Veemon looked up and her and gave a faint smile. Though he knew Dorumon was better, compliments from his partner cheered him up a bit. After chatting with his teammates for a short while, Dorumon rejoined the group as well. He was unaware that the player who owned Monodramon had caught glimpse of Nero, Alex and Aimi in the crowd.

"Weird," the player thought to himself. "I didn't know there were humans in the game. Maybe they're testing out some sort of avatar players will be able to use, or maybe it's some kind of special event."

The player looked away from the events and replied to a message in his game mailbox. By the time he finished and looked back, Nero and the others had already gone. He wondered if any other players saw them.

Shortly after everyone left, Ana and Guilmon entered the complex. They looked around, but didn't see them anywhere. They were both panting pretty heavily, chances are they ran to the location.

"We must've just missed them," Ana said.

"Aw, I wanted to meet the others," Guilmon whined.

"There can't be many other humans around here," Ana replied. "Surely another Digimon saw them."

She looked at her Digivice and saw that she was near the signals. However, the Digivice couldn't pinpoint exactly where in the city they were.

Nero and his group saw that all of the shops were completely crowded. They decided that it would be best to come back in the morning. They sought out the nearest inn, which was actually a hotel with at least 15 floors. A small calico-colored cat-like Digimon named Mikemon was in charge. Mikemon recognized Nero as Yggdrasil as soon as he approached, even before anyone said anything.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" Mikemon gasped upon seeing him.

Mikemon had accidentally attracted the attention of the Digimon in the lobby. However, they didn't approach, mostly because of Dorumon. Dorumon looked at all of the Digimon with eyes so fierce that the Digimon knew there would be trouble if they made him angry.

Mikemon gave them the keys to two separate rooms, one for Nero and Dorumon and the others for the girls and their partners. Naturally, Mikemon didn't expect them to pay for staying. Everyone thanked the Digimon and took the elevator to their floor, where they entered their rooms. Nero's was a very large room with one large bed, furnished with things most hotels had.

The room Aimi and Alex were staying in was a bit smaller and contained two queen-sized beds. The two plopped themselves down. Aimi was happy to have such a nice bed after so long. Alex grabbed a bunch of blankets and threw them on the floor for Agumon and Veemon. Neither of them really complained about sleeping on the floor. The only reason they were really there was to keep an eye on their partners anyway.

Ana and Guilmon searched for another hour or so before giving up. Ana decided that the humans in the city would stay overnight, and it would be best to try and find them in the morning. They found a much smaller inn and spent the night there.

Morning arrived soon enough, and activity in the city had died down completely. It was even less crowded than when Nero and the others first arrived. Nero looked at his Digivice shortly after waking up and saw that someone else was in the city, and another person would probably arrive by nightfall. Elsewhere, he saw that in a couple locations other humans had gotten together. Still, he only counted twelve in all. He looked down at the end of his bed and saw Dorumon curled up. Dorumon's ears perked up shortly after hearing Nero stir, causing Dorumon to awaken as well. Dorumon saw that Nero was curious about something.

"What's wrong?" Dorumon wondered.

"Oh, it's nothing," Nero answered, a bit startled. "I'm just wondering where the last Digivice I sent out is. Could it still be out there somewhere, searching for someone who'll believe the message?"

Nero had no idea that Brandon was sill driving around his country with his family, visiting various relatives. Brandon would be returning by the next day though.

Ana and Guilmon exited their place of stay rather early, deciding it would be best to resume the search. They were both hungry, especially Guilmon, so they decided to stop and get some breakfast beforehand. As they walked down the streets, Guilmon came to a sudden halt and took a battle-ready pose. He began growling and the pupils in his eyes had shrunk in size, giving him a very fierce look.

"What is it, boy?" Ana asked.

"Something's here," Guilmon answered. "Something bad!"

Nero and the others had left their hotel already. Nero had told Mikemon that they would be returning that night, since he wanted to give whoever was nearing the destination a chance to catch up. Nero suggested getting breakfast, but Alex told him it wouldn't be necessary. They had bought a bunch snacks at the hotel with money Alex had in her account the previous night. Agumon and Veemon made quick work of it all, and Alex and Aimi weren't too hungry. Nero wasn't too hungry, and Dorumon assured that he wasn't either. As they walked through the big city, Dorumon couldn't help but feel uneasy about walking around in plain view. He sensed something dark within the city limits, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Meanwhile, observing the group from atop one of the all buildings was Devidramon, the same one that had rescued BlackGabumon the previous day. He watched them intensely, as if he was waiting for something. Then, finally, after seeing the group walk down a narrow street towards one of the shops, Devidramon's eyes began to glow. The Digimon shot thick laser beams from it, striking the buildings on each side of the road.

Everyone looked up upon hearing the sound of something crashing, noticing that the buildings were now starting to topple over on each side, and preventing escape. Devidramon swooped down off the building and dragged his claws across the walls of a few, resulting in debris that plummeted down at the group. Just moments before it hit, Devidramon grabbed Nero and flew off, leaving Dorumon on the others behind.

"Metal Shoot!" Dorumon shouted, opening his mouth to release a shockwave that kept the pieces of building away from them.

However, he alone couldn't stop all of it, forcing Veemon and Agumon to help out best they could. Once everyone was safe, Dorumon looked up towards the sky and saw Devidramon getting away with Nero.

"Oh no you don't!" Dorumon roared, leaping into the air.

Just as Dorumon reached the maximum height of his jumped, Dorumon gave a powerful flap of his wings, propelling him up about a quarter of the way to the top of a skyscraper. Dorumon quickly kicked the side of one of them and began jumping multiple times until he finally reached the top of one.

"Metal Cannon!" he yelled as he began firing projectiles at Devidramon.

Devidramon didn't bother trying to avoid them, as Dorumon's attacks already couldn't reach him. Dorumon growled more intensely, shouting "Yggdrasil!" as he pursued by use of building tops.

Dorumon skid to a stop as a gap even too large for him prevented him from continuing. He looked down and saw several unoccupied stands with sheets for tops.

"Maybe, if I time this just right," Dorumon thought. "If done correctly, I can defeat Devidramon and save Yggdrasil at the same time. But if I fail or time this incorrectly, then… No, I can't think about that! I have to succeed! I have to save him! I swore I would protect him!"

Nero looked back and saw Dorumon run to the back of the rooftop he was on. He took a running start and Nero knew what he was up to.

"Wait, Dorumon!" he cried out. "Don't do it!"

Dorumon leapt off the building as high as he could, letting out a loud battle cry. He flapped his wings to go even higher, the jewel on his forehead glowing very brightly.

"DAV Beam!" he shouted, releasing the anti-viral beam.

Devidramon looked back at the last second, his four eyes widening. He quickly tilted his body, barely avoiding the attack.

"No… I missed…" Dorumon thought as he body began to fall towards the ground.

Dorumon couldn't turn his body, he was plummeting to the ground in a vulnerable position. Chances are even he wouldn't survive the fall like this. He now regretted not asking for something to eat, he was too low on energy.

"DORUMON!!!" Nero cried.

Dorumon looked up at Nero and saw tears forming in his eyes. Devidramon had stopped and was now hovering in place, grinning at the sight. Dorumon closed his eyes tightly and tried to flap his wings. As much as he flapped, his wings wouldn't lift his body.

"Come on, fly for me!" Dorumon pleaded. "I can't let them have Yggdrasil! I must protect him! Please, let me fly! I don't care what happens to me, just please let me save him! Let me fly!"

Nero's Digivice began to emanate a blinding white light, releasing a beam that struck Dorumon just moments before he collided with the ground. Dorumon's eyes shot open as he felt his body begin to change.

"Dorumon digivolve to…" he said.

His size increased a bit, and his face took a more feral-looking form. His ears became a bit longer and more pointed, and his wings greatly increased in size, looking almost like the blade of a scythe. His wings were now blue, the underside white. His tail grew thick and resembled more a dragon's. His claws and nails grew incredibly sharp.

"Dorugamon!" the new form of Dorumon called itself, emerging from the light and darting into the sky.

"What?!" Devidramon gasped, turning around and flying away.

"Dorumon digivolved?" Nero thought. "But how? He doesn't have the experience."

It didn't take long for Dorugamon to catch up.

"Power Metal!" he shouted, firing metal orbs at Devidramon.

The attack struck the arm the Devidramon was holding Nero with, causing him to drop him. Dorugamon swooped underneath him and caught Nero on his back.

"Hold on tight, Yggdrasil!" Dorugamon stated, receiving a nod of the head in response. Nero wrapped his arms around Dorugamon's neck, keeping himself positioned on. The jewel on Dorugamon's forehead began to glow again. "DAV Beam!"

Dorugamon fired another beam at Devidramon, this time striking him. Devidramon let out a cry of pain as he was soon reverted to an egg. As the egg fell towards the ground, Dorugamon flew over and caught it. He safely landed on the ground and allowed Nero to get off. He set the egg down gently and reverted back to Dorumon. Alex, Aimi, Agumon and Veemon all ran over.

"See, told you he could fly!" Veemon said in a jealous tone, jealous at the fact that Dorumon could digivolve and he couldn't yet.

"Are you all right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Dorumon," Nero replied.

Nero looked at Dorumon, who looked back with a face hoping for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "If I had told you I was hungry before, I wouldn't have had to cause you so much worry."

"There's nothing to apologize about," Nero responded with a smile. "You saved me, that's all that matters. Now, let's get you something to eat!"

Dorumon wagged his tail after hearing Nero's reply, rubbing his head up against him. He was glad Nero was safe. Meanwhile, Ana and Guilmon had observed everything from atop one of the smaller buildings. They smiled at the heartwarming sight.


	10. Chapter 9: Soulmon's Trap!

**Chapter 9: Soulmon's Trap! Greymon and Veedramon's Tag-Team Rescue**

It was about mid-day, the sun just reaching middle of the sky. At Maze Castle, Belphemon was all but happy about Devidramon's failure.

"Devidramon…" Belphemon growled under his breath. "You had Yggdrasil… You should have left… Now I find out that you failed because you just HAD to stay and watch Dorumon!"

Belphemon's personal thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the room. He turned to see BlackGabumon approaching. He gave a yawn as placed his right hand over his mouth. More than likely he had just awoken from a nap.

"So, what's this I hear about you failing?" he asked.

"I didn't fail!" Belphemon roared.

"That's not what I heard," BlackGabumon replied with a small chuckle. "What's more, I heard he can digivolve. How do you expect me to beat him now?"

"That was Devidramon's fault!" Belphemon retorted. "Maybe if you weren't sleeping and would help out around here, things would go better!"

"Well EXCUSE ME for following YOUR orders and staying put," BlackGabumon cackled sarcastically.

Belphemon turned and grumbled to himself. For once, BlackGabumon had made a valid argument.

"No matter," Belphemon finally said. "I have a few more henchmen lurking in the city where they were last seen. I originally planned on doing this after Yggdrasil had been captured, but now it's time to improvise. Dorumon's weak at the moment, so we just need to get the others away from him and Yggdrasil."

"Does this plan include me?" BlackGabumon asked.

"No, you will be staying here for now!" Belphemon answered. "If you want to make yourself useful, go train in the designated room on the other side of the castle."

"Fine," BlackGabumon mumbled as he turned around and walked away. He didn't want to risk disobeying Belphemon at the moment. "Just don't come crying to me when your plan fails again!"

"It won't," Belphemon told himself. "At least, it better not!"

Belphemon turned his head towards a shadow in the corner where a mysterious ghost-like character lurked.

"Soulmon," Belphemon called. "I trust you won't fail like Devidramon! If you do, prepare to suffer the consequences."

"Don't worry, my lord," the characters replied. "Devidramon was a fool, I won't take any chances. Just remember our deal, I didn't join you because your master ordered me to. My followers and I won't stick around should you break your promise."

"I'll keep my promise, so long as you don't fail," Belphemon growled, insulted by Soulmon's untrusting behavior. "You may use them for whatever you like!"

Back in the city, Nero and the others had stopped at a small, but nice-looking restaurant, where many NPC Digimon were currently hanging out for lunch. The group was located at a booth near the corner, but next to a window. Dorumon finished cleaning off a plate of food that he had just eaten.

"You were hungry," Nero stated while smiling. "Next time, don't wait so long to let me know you're hungry. Don't worry about bothering us. I mean, look at Agumon and Veemon."

"Hey!" Veemon snapped, about a halfway done with his current plate. "I don't eat as much as him!"

"Actually, you ate more than he did," Alex replied, glancing down at the plates around him.

"I was referring to Agumon," Veemon responded, realizing that his reaction could have given the impressions he was referring to Dorumon.

"Oh…" said Alex, realizing how much Agumon had already eaten. "Sorry, Veemon."

"I've got to admit, he does eat a lot," Aimi said.

A couple of cream-colored Digimon known as Burgermon approached the table. They had hamburger-shaped heads, blue eyes, and pink dots on each of their cheeks. They were a little taller than Aimi, but not the height of Nero or Alex.

"Thank you for the food," Nero told them. "How much do we owe you?"

"Oh, we couldn't possibly ask Lord Yggdrasil for money," the Burgermon on the right answered.

"We just wanted to know if the food was to your liking?" the Burgermon on the left added.

"It was delicious!" they all replied honestly.

Nero took out 10,000 Digidollars from his account by using the menu on his Digivice and handed it to the Burgermon. Though they refused to take it at first, Nero insisted. Besides, money wasn't an issue for him. There was nothing he probably couldn't afford in the Digital World. The two Digimon bowed politely and left the scene.

As the two Digimon disappeared behind the open door leading to the back rooms and kitchen, a loud "Thunk!" sound was heard. Shadows could be seen of two ghost-like figures ambushing the two Digimon and knocking them unconscious. They were dragged off the scene.

Two Burgermon emerged from behind the door, but something was a bit odd about them. Instead of blue eyes, they had black eyes. Nobody seemed to notice any changes as they approached the group's table. They sat down a couple dessert plates and bowls filled with ice cream and pie.

"Dessert's on the house!" both Digimon announced.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Dorumon replied. "Sorry, but I'm stuffed!"

Dorumon wasn't lying either, he really wasn't hungry this time.

"Well, I'm not!" Veemon announced, taking an ice cream sundae plate.

"Me neither!" Agumon stated, taking two plates of pie.

Aimi and Alex both sighed as the Digimon began to wolf down the dessert. Nero announced that he and Dorumon were leaving to go shopping, and that they would meet the others back at the hotel. Aimi and Alex both nodded and watched the two leave the restaurant. The two Burgermon leave the room and head into the back, snickering evilly.

A couple hours passed and Nero and Dorumon returned to the hotel, surprised that the others weren't back yet. Nero set the things they had bought on a small stand and plopped himself down on the bed, heaving a sigh.

"Are you okay?" Dorumon asked.

"Yeah, just a bit tired today," Nero answered. "I'm surprised that you aren't tired, after everything you went through today."

"Of course I'm tired," Dorumon admitted. "I just have to keep an eye on you! I can't be too careful any-"

Dorumon cut off his sentence and gave a low growl, turning to the closed door. He took a battle-ready pose.

"What is it, boy?" Nero wondered.

"There's a virus-type Digimon on the other side of the door!" Dorumon alerted. "Stay back, this could be dangerous!"

Meanwhile, Veemon stretched himself out as he opened his eyes. He realized that he had fallen asleep while eating, unusual for him. He looked and saw Agumon with his back against the cushioned seat, drooling a bit as he slept.

"Ugh, how long was I out, Alex?" he wondered. Veemon didn't hear and answer. "Alex?"

Veemon turned and saw that neither Alex nor Aimi were sitting with them.

"Alex!" he called. "Hmm, must be in the bathroom!"

Veemon waited for a few minutes, but nobody returned. He went up to one of the Burgermon working in the restaurant and asked if they had seen Alex or Aimi. The Burgermon told him that he had not seen either of the humans, and that Veemon had been asleep at the booth for a couple hours. Veemon turned back towards the table and realized that it had been cleaned off.

"You two were in such a deep sleep that we couldn't wake you!" the Burgermon informed.

Signs of fear and panic began to spread over Veemon's face. He knew his partner wouldn't just leave him, even if she were mad at him for eating like a glutton or falling asleep in public. Something was wrong!

Veemon rushed over to Agumon and began shaking him until he woke up. When Veemon told him what had happened, Agumon became equally as worried.

"We have to find them, fast!" Veemon exclaimed. "Lord Yggdrasil will never forgive us if something happens to our partners!"

"Maybe they went back to the hotel," Agumon replied.

"I doubt it," Veemon responded. "If that were the case, they would've have woken us. I really think something bad happened!"

Just to be sure, they began asking all of the Burgermon that worked in the restaurant if they had seen their partners. They were able to find the ones that originally served them their meals and found out that neither they nor any of the Burgermon had given them any dessert. Veemon was no certain that something happened and the two ran off. They ran out into the city and began calling out the names of their partners, desperate to find them.

Meanwhile, two familiar-looking figures could be seen riding on the back of an Airdramon in the sky over the city. Airdramon was a blue serpent-like Digimon with big red wings. Its face was covered with a skull, and its mane was stuck out like spikes with a red and yellow color. The tail was also the same mix of colors. Airdramon approached the top of a building and the two characters hopped off its back, revealing they to be Hikaru and Ryudamon.

"Thanks for the lift!" Hikaru told Airdramon.

"It was nothing," replied the Digimon. "It's the least I can do for the service you two did."

Airdramon was referring to something that happened a couple days ago. While travelling through the Dragon Spring Mountains, the two had come across young blue dragon-like Digimon known as Dracomon. The Dracomon had been badly injured something, most likely a Digimon controlled by a human player in the game, and had somehow gotten trapped underneath a boulder. The two freed it, and Ryudamon led Hikaru to the Dragon Spring Village to drop it off. Gaiomon had witnessed everything, and although he was never seen, his voice rang out through the village and they would be forever welcome, so long as they didn't harm any Digimon with the small village. As a thank you, they were allowed a request, and they asked for help reaching a certain destination. Airdramon was sent to take them wherever they wanted to go.

Airdramon took off and the two waved goodbye. They headed down the stairs and found the elevator, taking it to the bottom floor. No sooner than they left the building, they were knocked over by something.

"Hey!" Hikaru shouted after falling on his rear.

He and Ryudamon looked up and saw that Agumon and Veemon had bumped into them.

"Sorry!" Veemon apologized, getting up and rubbing his head. He looked up and saw Hikaru. "Hey, you're a human!"

He helped Hikaru get up while Ryudamon stood up and helped Agumon. Veemon told the two that their human partners were missing, though he never mentioned how it happened or who they were.

"What do you say, Ryudamon?" Hikaru questioned.

"It would be wrong not to help, Hikaru-sama," Ryudamon answered.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Dorumon held his pose as the door opened. He and Nero soon relaxed upon seeing who it was. It was Ana and Guilmon.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Guess we should have knocked."

Ana and Guilmon introduced themselves, knowing that Nero was Yggdrasil due to having scene the events earlier in the day. She knew this was his room because she and Guilmon had asked Mikemon about Yggdrasil's whereabouts.

As Hikaru and the Digimon looked around the city, Ryudamon asked them about their partners. They only mentioned the names Alex and Aimi, not really knowing much else. Hikaru stopped for a brief second upon hearing the name Alex, thinking it sounded familiar, but then resumed walking.

"So, how'd you two end up here?" Veemon questioned.

Hikaru told Agumon and Veemon what had happened, and both listened in with interest. They had walked around the city, finding no trace of the two missing girls. When they passed by the restaurant again, a Burgermon ran out and began shouting for them.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted, causing them to come to a halt. "We were examining the food you guys ate, and it turns out the ice cream and pie were loaded with a high amount of sleeping potion! You guys ate so much of it that you were knocked out into a deep sleep! Still, what amazes me is the fact that such a high amount would normally knock a Digimon out for days!"

The Burgemon left the group with that knowledge and returned to the restaurant. Ryudamon looked at Veemon with a rather unhappy gaze.

"Why didn't you tell us that was what happened?" she growled, angry with them for not being told how it happened. "So, your partners were abducted because you two were pigging out on ice cream?!"

"There was pie too," Agumon added.

"Whatever!" Ryudamon exclaimed. "If you two had been paying more attention to what you were eating and keeping an eye on your partners, this wouldn't have happened! If you two are so dimwitted that you would put food ahead of your partner's safety, then maybe you don't deserve to have one!"

Ryudamon turned away, telling Hikaru to follow.

"Don't bother searching for your partners anymore," Ryudamon told the two Digimon with her back turned. "We'll find them for you!"

Agumon and Veemon felt ashamed of themselves for letting such things happen. Ryudamon had been right, they didn't deserve partners. Veemon began to cry, getting to his knees and slamming his fist against the ground.

Evening was slowly approaching as the sun began to set, and Nero grew worried about the safety of the others. He and Dorumon set out, asking Ana and Guilmon to help out. Both agreed and the group left the hotel.

Agumon and Veemon were sitting on a bunch near one of the roads, the streets were beginning to fill up with Digimon. Agumon tried to cheer Veemon up, but Veemon was in no mood.

"Maybe…" Veemon finally said. "Maybe if I would've realized how much Alex meant to me, and I didn't act the way I do, this wouldn't have happened."

"You can't change who you are," Agumon replied, speaking words of wisdom for a change. "You and I both like to eat; there's nothing wrong with that. We were careless is all, it's not your fault."

"But it is!" Veemon stated.

"If you really think that is true," Agumon responded, his voice sounding a little more unpleasant. "Then why don't you do something about it?! Why not save her, rather than letting Ryudamon do it!"

Veemon looked up upon hearing this, Agumon was right. Alex was his partner, not Ryudamon's! He had to save her, not her!

It was then that Veemon realized a place they hadn't checked yet. He called for Agumon and the two found the nearest manhole cover. Veemon knew it was the only place, they were in the sewers.

The two followed the path of grimy water and rusted pipes down the narrow chambers. After they ran down the paths for about a mile, Veemon told Agumon to stop. He sensed an uneasy presence in the air. Sure enough, he was right. Three ghost-like Digimon emerged from the murky water, all of them with sharp teeth and white round dots in black irises for eyes. They were known as Bakemon.

"You shouldn't have come!" one of them announced. "Now we can dispose of you without worrying about any interference!"

"Give us back our partners!" Veemon ordered.

"Yeah!" Agumon exclaimed.

The Bakemon simply began to laugh. Veemon gritted his teeth and lunged at one of them, trying to punch it. He was fast, but the physical attack did little damage against the ghostly Champion-level Digimon. Agumon tried his luck, spewing fireballs from his mouth, but the Digimon simply avoided the sow attacks.

"I can't hit them!" Agumon whined.

"Soulmon should be pleased to hear that we've disposed of the partner Digimon of those two subjects!" a Bakemon cackled.

As he and Agumon fought the Bakemon, Veemon discovered that the Digimon weren't trying to avoid his attacks, but were afraid of Agumon's. He knew that Agumon was the only one who could injure them. He managed to get back-to-back with Agumon.

"Hey, Agu," he whispered. "I've got a plan!"

"All right!" Agumon whispered back after Veemon whispered the plan to him.

"Let's go!" Veemon announced.

Agumon turned and hopped onto Veemon's back, making it appear that Veemon was giving Agumon a piggyback ride. Veemon was actually really strong physically, allowing him to run and carry Agumon without hindering his speed by too much. Though he was slower, Veemon was able to move Agumon fast enough to the point where he get close enough for Agumon to launch a Pepper Breath attack directly into each Bakemon's face.

"We're a pretty good team," said Agumon.

"Yeah…" replied Veemon. "I guess we are."

Strong as Veemon was, he couldn't carry Agumon forever. He set Agumon down and the two continued down the sewer paths, fighting off a few more Bakemon every other turn. After running for a while, the two came to a sewage waterfall that emptied into a large chamber below. On the walkway surrounding the chamber, they two could see Aimi and Alex, both unconscious and chained up against the wall. It didn't look like any harm had come upon them yet.

"Aimi!" Agumon unwittingly called out.

"You idiot!" Veemon snapped, knocking Agumon on the back of the head.

Within a few seconds a large group of Bakemon had surrounded the two. From behind the Bakemon, a lone Digimon began to laugh menacingly. It looked like the Bakemon, only it wore a black witch's hat that seemed to cover its eyes.

"I'm guessing you're Soulmon!" Veemon growled. "So, what have you done to our partners?!"

"They're fine at the moment," Soulmon cackled. "I have been given permission to use them for whatever purposes I like, since their fates are unimportant. I have quite a few experiments I've been wanting try on human test subjects. If I were you, I'd be concerned about my own fate."

Veemon gritted his teeth as the Bakemon charged at the two Digimon. They both attacked, Agumon being the only to actually do any damage. This time there were too many of them, and Agumon and Veemon were forced into submissive position. Aimi and Alex finally began to stir, their eye opening and witnessing the situation. However, they didn't care for the fact that were chained up and saw a Bakemon raise a claw to finish off the two Digimon once and for all.

"Veemon!" Alex cried.

"Agumon!" Aimi yelled.

The two Digimon's eyes opened widely upon hearing their partners call them. They couldn't give up. It was then that the two Digivices of the humans, strapped to their sides, began to glow. Two beams of light shot out and struck the Digimon, allowing them to Digivolve. Soulmon had been a fool, the experience gained from fighting all of the Bakemon gave them the power.

"Agumon digivolve to…" said Agumon, his form changing. Agumon severely grew in height, his body taking on a form that more resembled a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He had a well-muscled chest and forearms, orange skin with blue stripes, and a brown helmet with antler-like horns on the side and a large horn for the nose. He glared at the Bakemon with fierce red eyes, shouting his new name as he finished changing. "Greymon!"

"Veemon digivolve to…" Veemon stated, changing as well. Veemon became a larger version of himself, the "V" mark disappearing from his forehead and reappearing as a large blue "V" on his chest. A cross-shaped scar appeared under his red eyes, and his horn on his nose grew in size while his ears became large white horns as well. His tail became longer and thicker. He shouted his new name as well. "Veedramon!"

The Bakemon began to scatter as Veedramon fired V-shaped heat beams at them and Greymon unleashes massive blazes of fire. The Bakemon that weren't destroyed immediately fled the scene. Soulmon grew angry and used his magic to block an attack from Greymon, who was spewing flames at the Digimon. This, however, left him wide open for a direct attack from Veedramon. Veedramon used his V-Nova Blast attack to fire a V-shaped heat beam at Soulmon, vaporizing him in an instant.

Both Digimon reverted to their Rookie-level forms as the battle finished. They ran over to their partners and freed them. The Digimon apologized for what they believed to have been their fault. Though the humans tried to tell them otherwise, the Digimon refused to let them.

"Let's go back, Alex," Veemon suggested after hugging her. "I bet Lord Yggdrasil and Dorumon are getting worried."

"Come on, Aimi," Agumon said to his partner. "I bet you're tired and hungry."

Though Agumon had brought up the subject of food, it was the first time that he and Veemon were not thinking about it. As the partners searched for a way out of the sewers, they were unaware that Hikaru and Ryudamon had walked in on the scene at the last moment, allowing them to witness the ending battle.


	11. Chapter 10: The Last Digivice

**Chapter 10: The Last Digivice**

Before Hikaru and Ryudamon followed the path the others took out of the sewers, they decided to follow a stray Bakemon that had fled after Soulmon's defeat. The Bakemon was aware that it was being followed and tried to get away until they had cornered it at a dead end.

"Stay back!" the Bakemon growled. "I'm warning you!"

"Calm down," Ryudamon replied. "We just have a few questions to ask you. I suggest you answer them truthfully, that is, unless you want to end up like your friends."

"Qu-Questions?" Bakemon stuttered.

At first, Bakemon thought he might be safe from Ryudamon and could get away, but after remembering what happened with Agumon and Veemon, he didn't want to take any chances.

On the surface, Nero, Ana, and their Digimon partners continued to look for the others. They had searched the entire city and were now back at the hotel.

"Where could they be?" Nero wondered, his tone making him sound very worried. "If anything happens to them it'll be my fault!"

"Lord Yggdrasil, look!" Dorumon shouted, pointing off in the distance.

Nero turned and saw a few familiar figures heading towards the hotel. It was Aimi and Alex, along with Agumon and Veemon. The two Digimon did not look like they were in the best shape of their lives. Nero and the others ran to greet them.

"Hey guys, what happened?" Nero asked.

Dorumon approached Agumon and Veemon. He was just about to ask what had happened to them when he suddenly covered his nose.

"Ugh, why do you guys smell so bad?" he questioned.

Agumon complained at the comment, but Veemon surprisingly did not. Dorumon was amazed by this, and even more curious when Veemon smiled back at him.

"Heh, I can digivolve, too now," he said, passing out immediately after.

Agumon realized that Veemon had wasted so much energy carrying him around, and after running around the city for most of the day, that the amount of food they both ate failed in comparison to the amount of energy they had expended.

After carrying Veemon back into Aimi and Alex's room, Ana and Guilmon introduced themselves to the rest of the group. Agumon, being the only one currently conscious who knew everything that happened, explained what had transpired.

"We're sorry," Agumon apologized.

"The important thing is that all of you are okay," replied Nero. "What concerns me is that the virus would send two attacks in the same day. We're leaving first thing in the morning; we can't stay here!"

"You mentioned a virus," said Ana. "What exactly do you mean?"

"That's right, I never did tell you, did I?" Nero realized. "Guess I should tell you the reason why I asked you here."

"Mind telling us too?" Hikaru asked, entering the room without knocking and receiving the attention of everyone else.

"Hikaru-sama, you could've knocked," Ryudamon sighed, following close behind.

"Hikaru?" Alex gasped.

"Alexandra Yamamoto?" Hikaru responded, remembering that he never got a clear look at her when he saw Veemon rescue her. "So you were the one Veemon was talking about!"

Ryudamon ignored the two and approached Nero. Somehow, she knew that he was Yggdrasil.

"Lord Yggdrasil, forgive our intrusion," she stated. "My partner there is Hikaru Kusanagi, and I am Ryudamon."

Ryudamon explained how they found the hotel by asking some local Digimon inhabitants if they had seen Agumon and Veemon with their human partners. They eventually found the hotel and asked Mikemon which room they were in. After everyone introduced themselves to Hikaru and Ryudamon, Nero told them about the virus, and how everything happened.

"So, this virus, you said it took on the form of a Digimon," Hikaru said after Nero had finished. "Do yu think it could have taken on the form of a Digimon called Belphemon?"

"Belphemon?" Nero questioned.

Dorumon winced at the sound of the name, he knew who they were talking about.

"We followed one of the Bakemon that had attacked your friends and asked who sent them. He said that they were only following Soulmon, whom had been hired by a Digimon known as Belphemon to take care of them."

"Belphemon…" Nero pondered. "That name does sound familiar."

"It's not him!" Dorumon announced.

Everyone turned to look at him, causing Dorumon to look at the ground with an ashamed expression on his face.

"What do you mean, Dorumon?" asked Nero.

"I never told you this, Yggdrasil, but when you sent me out to find the virus, I never actually encountered it," Dorumon explained. "In truth, I ran into a Digimon who claimed to serve the virus, the Digimon known as Belphemon. I couldn't even scratch him, he was so powerful, and he was the one that defeated me."

"So, you encountered Belphemon, not the virus," Nero sighed, receiving a nod from Dorumon. Nero took out his Digivice and began browsing through the menu. Nero pressed a button. "Data Analyzer, open! Code: Yggdrasil 0000001"

Nero's Digivice began to glow and a strange screen showing a list of Digimon appeared in holographic form.

"What are you doing?" Aimi wondered.

"This feature is called the Data Analyzer," Nero informed. "Right now it can't be accessed by normal players because I'm still working out a few bugs. There's a special password that you can use to access it. I haven't told anyone else this, but the password is your username plus your ID number. Once you enter it, you should be able to access what I have added so far. Now, as for the feature itself, the Data Analyzer allows you access any information on a Digimon your Digimon has encountered before. I personally have seen nearly every Digimon, but Dorumon has only seen so many, so I can currently only receive information on ones he has encountered."

Nero began searching through the list of names until he found Belphemon. He opened the profile page and saw Belphemon's picture in one box, his name in a box located at the top, and a box on the side that listed all of the information about him.

"Belphemon, a Mega-level Demon Lord-type Digimon of the virus attribute. His Lampranthus attack seems to be his most dangerous," Nero informed. "Yikes, no wonder you lost! I never imagined the virus would have Digimon this strong under its control!"

"So, we have to fight this thing?" Alex wondered.

"If we want to get to the virus, we'll probably have to!" Nero answered. "One things is clear, even at the Champion-level, Dorumon is no match for a Digimon this powerful. If we can get all of you to Ultimate, we might have a seldom chance of beating this guy!"

"Are you sure about that?" Ana asked. "If he's a Mega-level Digimon, and he's gotten stronger with the help of this virus, will even five Ultimate-level Digimon be enough?"

"Ordinarily, I'd say no," Nero admitted. "However, there are two factors on our side! First, Belphemon has a huge weakness that when exploited, will give us a chance. If we can exploit this weakness, Dorumon will just need to hit him with an Ultimate-level DAV attack. Even if he is a Mega-level, so long as he's infected by the virus, one hit from this attack should defeat him."

"What kind of weakness is this?" Ryudamon wondered.

Before Nero could answer, Veemon finally woke from his slumber. He sat himself up on the bed and looked around, noticing Ryudamon.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed, pointing at Ryudamon.

"The same thing as you," Ryudamon answered.

"You mean passing out with your mouth wide open and sleeping in your own drool?" Veemon responded while wiping his chin, knowing that he had passed out earlier.

Everyone began laughing a bit while Ryudamon closed her eyes and clenched her right hand into a fist, the area just above her eyes twitching a bit. Even Dorumon laughed at the joke.

Meanwhile, in another sector of the Digital World, Sandar and Aaron were both riding in a ferry-type boat up towards the north. It was very dark, and Sandra was annoyed to still be awake. She did not want to fall asleep.

"This is your fault, you know!" Sandra growled at Dracmon.

"How is it my fault?" Dracmon whined.

"You're the one who got us kicked off the last ferry, and now we have to take this detour!" Sandra reminded.

"Hey, go easy on him," Aaraon told her. "You've got to admit, it was pretty funny."

"Aaron," Sandra sighed. "As much as I appreciate you coming to find me and taking me to the mainland, I'm going to have to ask you not to encourage him."

"I'm not hearing a 'no,'" Dracmon pointed out.

Swimmon swam alongside the ferry. Unfortunately, because she was almost always in the water she did not see what had happened. She could float on land, probably due to her enhanced abilities provided by Nero's programming, but without being drenched with water every now and then, she wouldn't last long.

In another sector, Conrad and Jill had arrived at a small oasis-like town just outside of the desert. They were currently located in a very shaky-looking inn. Conrad was trying to sleep, but Jill just wouldn't seem to let him. The room was small, and the beds were small moth-eaten cots that were set out. It was better than staying outside, where the temperature severely dropped at night.

"Thanks a lot, mister," she said.

"All right already, will you just go to sleep now?" Conrad groaned. "I'm sorry, but I'm really tired right now."

"We all are," Candlemon added.

"He's right, Jill," Veemon told Jill. "Let them sleep. You should get some rest as well."

"All right," Jill sighed.

Before they all knew it, every human currently in the Digital World had fallen asleep, as well as the partner Digimon.

It was about four o'clock on the morning when Brandon finally returned home. He had slept in the car for several hours and was no longer tired. He entered his house and headed immediately into his room, throwing his brown suitcase onto the floor. He blew some dust off his computer and had it leave the screensaver mode.

"Looks like I forgot to turn this off," he thought as he sat down. The Digimon game popped on-screen, with the new message icon flashing in the corner. He had several new messages. "Figures, all trade requests or messages from my friends."

He clicked on a small box in the corner that checked all of the messages and was about to click a "Delete Marked Messages" button. It was then that he noticed the one from Yggdrasil and instantly went over to click it.

"What's this?" he wondered.

Brandon clicked on the message and opened it up, reading it.

"What the hell is all of this?" he thought. "This has to be a joke!"

He was about to reject the message when he suddenly felt a strange feeling flow throughout his body. For some reason, he wanted to check it out. He glanced up at the date the message was sent and sighed.

"Then again, this message has been sitting in my inbox for a while now," he said. "This event could be over by now. I guess the least I could do is accept it."

No later than the second that Brandon clicked on the accept button, his computer monitor began to glow brighter than it ever had before. A Digivice popped out of the computer monitor and landed into his lap.

"N-No way!" he gasped as he picked it up and looked at it. "This can't be real!"

"It's about time!" a male voice shouted.

Brandon jumped back and looked around the room in attempt to find the source. After finding nobody, he then turned towards the computer monitor.

"Who said that?" he aasked.

"Me!" the voice exclaimed. "Your Digimon partner! It's been so long now, I thought you would show up!"

"M-My Digimon…partner?" Brandon stuttered.

"Yes," the voice answered. "Now hurry up and hold your Digivice up to the monitor so we can help out Lord Yggdrasil! Who knows what trouble they could be in right now?!"

Brandon slowly raised his arm when his dorr creeped open.

"Brandon, is that you?" a female voice asked. It was his mom. "It sounded like you were talking to someone."

Brandon quickly hid the Digivice behind him as he tried to think of a plan.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait a little bit longer," he said to the voice coming out of his computer.

Brandon rushed to the door to tell his mom everything was okay. He wondered how he was going to tell her that he was going on a trip to the Digital World, and right after they just got back from vacation too.

As morning dawned on the Digital World, Belphemon was furious as he became aware of the news.

"Soulmon, I thought you had it control!" he roared. "Next time, my plans won't fail! I'll just have to send my strongest out!! I'd go myself if the master didn't order me not to!"

"Belphemon!" and angry voice yelled, echoing throughout the castle.

Belphemon froze in place and turned his head slightly, setting his eyes upon the sight of a pillar of light that had appeared in the center of the room. He knew that the voice was none other than that of the virus.

"M-Master," Belphemon stuttered. "Wh-What is it?"

"I thought you'd have everything under control by now!" the virus growled. "Dorumon's neither standing by your side nor dead, and you failed to apprehend Yggdrasil or eliminate the others! My patience is growing thin! It's not like this was your first chance! However, that's not the only cause of my anger! What's worse is that you've allowed Dorumon to digivolve! Exactly how much stronger do plan on letting him get?"

"Forgive me, master," Belphemon replied. "I swear, I won't rest until I fulfill your wishes!"

"Where is BlackGabumon?" the virus questioned.

"He's probably sleeping right now, but I've had him train when he's not doing so," Belphemon replied. "I'll protect him as long as that is your wish, I haven't sent him on any missions!"

"That's good! Now I want you to go and train BlackGabumon yourself!" the virus ordered, receiving a shocked reaction from Belphemon. "I'm glad he been training, but I need him to get as much experience as he can as quickly as possible. You're the strongest in the area, so you train him! We must strike now while Dorumon is still only able to digivolve to the Champion level. Once you feel he's strong and stable enough, I want you to send him out to deal with Dorumon!"

"Yes, master," Belphemon grumbled, getting on one knee. "I understand. However, you know he won't take this lightly!"

"If you two would just learn to get along, this wouldn't be so difficult," the virus sighed, the pillar of light disappearing.

Belphemon stood up and a strange-looking Digimon approached him. It looked sort of like Agumon, only it was made out of black Lego blocks.

"You called, my lord?" the Digimon wondered.

"Go wake BlackGabumon!" Belphemon ordered. "There's work to be done!"

Meanwhile, Nero and the others checked out of the hotel after a good night's rest. The group prepared a small breakfast with some of the groceries Nero had bought and quickly took their leave of the city, taking one last gander back at it. Nero looked at his Digivice and saw the location of the other humans whom they had yet to meet up with.

"Let's head northwest," Nero announced. "There's a place there I want to check out."


	12. Chapter 11: The Ancient Proving Grounds

**Chapter 11: Battle at the Ancient Proving Grounds**

The scenery was the forest area just outside Maze Castle. The fog was not surrounding the very outside f the castle, allowing the midday sunlight to shine through. Many trees were knocked over, and several were scorched with burn marks.

A loud crash sound was heard as BlackGabumon jumped back to avoid an energy blast. In the smokescreen resulting from the blast, something slammed into BlackGabumon's body, knocking him onto his back. BlackGabumon looked up to see Belphemon holding his claws out in front of him, making BlackGabumon feel even more insignificant in size that he already was.

"We're done for the day!" Belphemon announced, lowering his claws and walking away.

"I can still keep going!" BlackGabumon spat, panting heavily and he sat up.

Belphemon turned and smacked smacked him with the back of his hand, knocking him into a tree which down in the process. BlackGabumon twitched in severe pain, barely able to move. He tried to lift his head, but passed out soon after.

"If that little tap did that much damage to right now, then obviously you're not fine!" Belphemon stated. He turned to the group of black Lego-like Agumon approaching. "Get BlackGabumon to his room make sure he has plenty to eat and drink after he's rested a bit."

"Yes, sir!" they all replied, standing firm and saluting him.

As BlackGabumon slept, he remembered the day when he first hatched from his egg. He had hatched already in his Rookie form. As his young and curious self examined his new surrounding, he realized he was surrounded by six mysterious figures. Due to the lack of light in whatever area was in, apart from a single pillar, he couldn't make them out.

The young BlackGabumon turned and noticed a long character in the single pillar of light. He heard a voice coming from it, telling him not worry and that he was in safe hands. He turned back to face the other six and could hear them muttering amongst themselves.

"Everyone introduce yourself to BlackGabumon," the virus ordered.

While BlackGabumon went to meet the Digimon, DemiDevimon flew over to the virus' side.

"Where is Belphemon?" the virus demanded to know.

"He was busy securing his sector," DemiDevimon answered. "He said he'll be here later."

Later that day, BlackGabumon was outside the virus' lair, testing out his Blue Blaster attack by attacking targets that had been set out. He prepared to fire another blast when he suddenly tripped on a rock, falling back and accidentally shooting in the air.

"Watch where you're aiming!" a voice roared.

BlackGabumon looked up and saw Belphemon standing over him, looking very angry. BlackGabumon tried to apologize, but it didn't stop Belphemon from lifting him up with his index finger and thumb, heading into the castle. Belphemon approached the virus in his chamber.

"Master, is THIS the reason you called me here?" Belphemon questioned.

"Yes," the virus responded. "His name is BlackGabumon, and someday he'll be as strong as, if not stronger than you."

"Well, tell him to watch his aim!" Belphemon exclaimed, throwing him hard to the ground.

BlackGabumon landed hard on his back. His eyes began to tear up as he sat up. While the virus scolded Belphemon for his actions, Belphemon muttered under his breath. BlackGabumon could barely hear him and began to get uncontrollably angry. In an instant a black flame surrounded his body as he lunged and unleashed his energy in one massive outburst. BlackGabumon couldn't remember what happened after that, only that he was contained in the tower after that so his emotions would be kept under control.

"Why did I get stuck with him?" BlackGabumon thought as he remembered all of this.

Elsewhere in the Digital World, Nero's group had stopped atop a small waterfall for lunch. They had climbed it earlier to get to where they were going. Agumon munched on a piece of bread as looked off in the distance. He felt a strange feeling that he couldn't describe flowing through his body, but it subsided just as quickly as it had appeared.

"What's wrong, Agumon?" asked Aimi.

"Huh?" Agumon replied. "Oh, nothing."

Ryudamon was slightly disturbed by the way Agumon, Veemon, and even Guilmon ate as Agumon rejoined the feeding frenzy. She could now understand how Agumon and Veemon got into the trouble they were in earlier.

"Oh great, another one…" Nero sighed after seeing how much Guilmon ate

"Sorry about that," said Ana, trying to apologize for Guilmon's actions.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Nero replied, standing up. Everyone had finished eating and the group now packed back up. "Let's get going!"

"Exactly how far is this place?" Hikaru wondered.

"If we keep moving, we should arrive before noon tomorrow," Nero answered. "Trust me, it'll be worth it!"

The group continued to head northwest, eventually setting up camp once nightfall had arrived. After the group had eaten, Nero stared up at the clear night sky as he lay on his back. He held his Digivice out in front of him and he observed the locations of the others. Only about half of them had moved since earlier in the day. Nero expected that those who hadn't moved were either in a position where they couldn't, decided to stay and wait for the others to come looking for them, or just decided to take a break for the day. As Nero continued to stare at the Digivice, his eyes had once again taken their fiercer look, meaning he was now deep in thought.

"Psst, Yggdrasil sir, you're doing it again," Dorumon whispered upon noticing this.

"Oh," Nero responded, his eyes returning to normal. "Sorry about that."

"What are you thinking about, sir?" Dorumon wondered.

"I'm just thinking about the other humans that are here," Nero answered. "I just hope they're okay."

"Based on what I've seen with the other Digimon partners you made, they should be just fine," Dorumon assured.

"Thanks, buddy," said Nero, raising his arm and patting Dorumon on the head.

Morning arrived fairly quickly, the sky now a bit cloudy. They continued their journey northwest until they arrived at some old ruins. The ruins were merely broken pillars and old worn-down arches surrounding a very large and open platform.

"Is this the place?" Alex asked.

"Yep," Nero confirmed. "This place is known as the Ancient Proving Grounds."

"Ancient Proving Grounds?" Veemon questioned.

"I've heard about this place," Ryudamon stated. "This used to be a place where Digimon were forced into dangerous and life-threatening situations just to prove themselves worthy of existing."

"If I remember correctly, it was mandatory for Digimon who lived in this area to participate at least once," Guilmon added. "However, after the times of war had passed, about 500 years ago, they stopped doing it."

"Wow!" Ana gasped, amazed because Guilmon had never shown her his intelligence like that before.

"Wait a minute, 500 years?" questioned Hikaru. "I thought that this game was only a few weeks old."

"A few weeks?" the Digimon all wondered.

"That's true," Nero informed. "However, I programmed a history into this game as well. As far as the Digimon know, they've existed as long as humans themselves."

"Oh," responded Hikaru, feeling a bit dumb for not realizing that at the start. "That makes sense."

"Lord Yggdrasil, what are all of you talking about?" Dorumon wondered, not understanding the concept.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Nero answered with a smile.

Nero had the group walk into the center of the platform. There were about four other Digimon in the area, all of them battling each.

"Looks like a few players have figured it out already," Nero said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Figured what out?" Aimi replied.

"The reason we're here," Nero explained. "You see, the Ancient Proving Grounds is a place where the experience gained in battle is tripled. However, because there are no wild Digimon with several miles of the area, most players who find this information out don't bother coming here. These aren't called the Ancient proving Grounds for nothing, the 'Proving' means that players must battle each other to gain the experience."

"You mean…?" Agumon began to say.

"That's right, you guys are going to spar each other!" Nero announced.

"Sweet!" cheered Veemon. "I call Dorumon!"

"Sorry, Veemon, but you'll be sparing against Agumon," Nero replied. "I want Ryudamon and Guilmon to spar with Dorumon together. No offense, but if you took Dorumon on all by yourself, you wouldn't last too long."

Veemon pouted at this, unwilling to accept that Nero was probably correct. Ryudamon didn't laugh, though she gave a faint smirk. She was definitely interested in seeing how strong the partner of Yggdrasil was.

"All right, Agu, let's go," Veemon grumbled, grabbing Agumon's arm and storming off to the far side of the platform.

Alex and Aimi followed both of them while Hikaru and Ana stayed with Nero. They stayed near the center of the platform to allow themselves the most room possible. Ryudamon and Guilmon stood face to face with Dorumon, all three Digimon taking battle-ready poses.

"Are you guys ready?" Nero asked Guilmon and Ryudamon.

"Yes, sir, Lord Yggdrasil!" both replied at the same time.

"How about you, Dorumon?" Nero eustioned.

Dorumon nodded his head and Nero and the others backed away a bit.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted, charging up a plasma-like fireball in his mouth and firing at Dorumon.

Though the fireball was incredibly fast, much faster than Agumon's, Dorumon easily avoided it by jumping into the air. Ryudamon opened her mouth and unleashed an iron blade projectile at the mid-air Dorumon. Dorumon leaned backwards and managed to have the projectile just barely miss him. Dorumon began doing back flips as he landed back on the ground.

"Metal Cannon!" he yelled, firing his projectile attacks at the two Digimon.

He had missed them purposely, just hitting the ground directly in front of them. The two opposing Digimon both looked on in awe; Dorumon's skill was incredible. Ryudamon was very impressed with Dorumon's swift movements and strong attack power, sort of admiring him. In her mind, he was the perfect partner for someone as important as Yggdrasil.

Nero watched the Digimon spar and then turned to see Agumon and Veemon sparring a little bit away; they were more even of a match. The reason he wanted Guilmon and Ryudamon to spar with Dorumon was because they hadn't learned how to digivolve yet.

They continued to spar until evening when Nero told everyone to relax. They set up camp underneath one of the arches. At least by staying out of site from the main area, they could avoid being spotted by any normal players that might stop by.

After everyone was asleep, Ryudamon woke Guilmon and their partners. She asked them all back out to the platform.

"What's up, Ryudamon?" Hikaru wondered. "Why'd you wake us?"

"Hikaru-sama, Lord Yggdrasil is concerned about us," Ryudamon informed. "We need to be able to digivolve like the others."

"So, are you saying you want Guilmon to train with you while everyone else is sleeping?" Ana asked.

"You got it," Ryudamon answered.

"That's sounds like a good idea," Guilmon complimented.

They were about to start one Guilmon suddenly sensed an uneasy presence in the area, tasking the pose he usually did when stuff like this happened.

"What's wrong, boy?" Ana asked.

Two samurai-like Digimon appeared on the platform, both wearing red samurai armor and wielding backswords. They had long blue hair and wore brown peasant-like cloths around their chest and for pants. They had blue sandals on their right feet and bandages on their clawed left feet. Hikaru took out his Digivice.

"Data Analyzer, open! Code: BakuRyuu Asuka 1034672!" he said, cuasing his Digivice to show the information. "They're called Musyamon, Champion-level Wizard-type Digimon of the virus attribute! I wonder what they're doing here?"

The four managed to avoid being seen by the two Digimon, as they appeared to be in conversation.

"We're early," one of them said.

"Well, Lord Belphemon did say that he wouldn't show up until tomorrow afternoon," the other reminded.

The first Musyamon sighed and turned around, spotting Ana, Hikaru, and the Digimon.

"Hey!" he shouted.

Guilmon and Ryudamon quickly jumped in front of their partners. The Musyamon shouted "Get them!" as they charged at the group, their swords in hand.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted as he shot a fireball at one.

"Katana Attack!" Ryudamon exclaimed, firing her projectile attack at the other.

One Musyamon swatted Guilmon's attack away with his sword, while the other jumped in the air to avoid Ryudamon's attack. He came down directly at Ryudamon, whom pushed her partner out of the way. She held up her arms and blocked the blade, Musyamon pushing down even harder.

"Ninja Blade!" he Musyamon yelled, cuasing his sword to become engulfed in blue flames.

The flames singed Ryudamon's face, but she managaed to push he Digimon away.

"These guys have been strengthened by the virus," Ryudamon realized.

"Shogun Sword!" the other Musyamon shouted, creating ghost-like flaming dragon with his sword and sending it at Guilmon.

Guilmon attacked it with his Pyro Sphere, but the attack had no effect. Guilmon smacked Ana with his tail, knocking her away while he took the full damage from the attack.

"Guilmon!" Ana cried out after sitting up.

Her Digivice began to glow. Meanwhile, Ryudamon struggled to keep Musyamon away from her. After realizing that he couldn't defeat Ryudamon fairly, Musyamon dashed at Hikaru, whom was just getting up from being push to the ground by Ryudamon. Ryudamon quickly intercepted the attack, receiving a burning wound across her chest.

"Ryudamon, no!" Hikaru cried, his Digivice glowing as well.

Both Digimon had received experience from all of their efforts, and they now had enough to digivolve. The two Digivices shot beams of light that struck the Digimon.

"Guilmon digivolve to…" Guilmon said as his form changed. Guilmon became a much larger version of himself, long white hair flowing down his back. He also had two large horns and what appeared to be two large blades made from his skin sticking out above his wrists. He wore black straps around his wrists, and his hazard sign symbol had moved to his upper arms. He shouted out the name of his new form. "Growlmon!"

"Ryudamon digivolve to…" said Ryudamon as she changed as well. Her body took a more defined shapr, her arms extending so they looked more like legs. Her tail became longer, with a furry tip. Her body was now covered in a much smoother black armor, though the region covering her longer neck was a purple color. Her face was a bit more lizard-like now, but now even smoother. The area around her mouth was covered in white paint. She also shouted out her new form's name. "GinRyumon!"

Both humans gasped at the Champion-level forms of their partner Digimon. The Musyamon that had attacked Growlmon once again tried Shogun Sword attack out on Growlmon.

"Pyro Blaster!" Grolwmon shouted, releasing a powerful fireball at Musyamon.

The attack overshadowed Musyamon's, defeating the flaming dragon and engulfing Musyamon. Musyamon emerged from the attack, only to find Growlmon charging at him with a glowing blade on his right arm.

"Dragon Slash!" he yelled, slashing down at Musyamon and cutting him diagonally.

As the Musyamon became data after being defeated, the other one tried using his Ninja Blade atack on GinRyumon. She didn't bother dodging it as the blade struck the backside of her armor, bouncing off and having no effect. GinRyumon grew annoyed with the Digimon and knocked him away with her tail, which has suddenly lit up.

The force of the impact threw the Musyamon back, and GinRyumon began charging up another attack in her mouth.

"Armor Piercing Blade!" she exclaimed, firing an iron spear from her mouth.

The spear struck Musyamon in the chest, causing him to let out a cry of pain as he disappeared into data. The two Digimon resumed their Rookie forms as they rushed to their partners, making sure they were okay.

"Impressive!" Nero complimented.

The four looked to see that Nero and Dorumon were no standing not too far away; the noise had woken them up. They had only seen the ending of the battle, so they didn't know what caused the Digimon to digivolve.

Meanwhile, back at Maze Castle, Belphemon was observing the scenery just outside the castle. A bunch of the black Lego-like Agumon were scattered around the area, all of them badly injured. A black leg stepped out from the shadows, the leg belonging to a new Digimon.

"Looks like you've finally improved," Belphemon cackled. "Guess you aren't entirely hopeless, BlackGarurumon!"


	13. Chapter 12: Greymon vs BlackGarurumon

**Chapter 12: A Dangerous Encounter! Greymon vs. BlackGarurumon**

BlackGarurumon stepped forward. He was a large grayish-black wolf-like Digimon with ragged fur, several white incomplete stripes all across his body. He had a long but thin tail, and he had a spiky mane around his neck. Three thick spikes of fur were also sticking out from both shoulders and each end of his rear. His claws were sharp, his nails colored purple.

"These ShadowToyAgumon weren't much of a challenge," he growled.

"Don't get cocky!" Belphemon stated. "Remember, you were stronger than all of them even at the Rookie level. You should also keep in mind that you're no match for Dorumon yet. You're newly digivolved, you need more experience."

"Then give me stronger opponents!" BlackGarurumon spat.

"Patience," Belphemon sighed. "Jeez, you've become even more uncontrollable now. Now, I want you to head to the Ancient Proving Grounds!"

Belphemon led BlackGarurumon back inside the castle to his main chamber. He turned back around to face BlackGarurumon and pointed to a large map of the area directly behind him. His large finger pointed directly at one particular spot.

"Why?" BlackGarurumon wondered, looking away.

"Look at me!" Belphemon roared, causing BlackGarurumon to face him again. "This area will help you gain experience much faster! I have two of my minions awaiting your arrival. So long as you train there, you should gain enough battle experience to match Dorumon."

BlackGarurumon hated the thought of needing more training. Belphemon sighed again and grabbed a strange-looking tablet from a table under the map. The pill was very small, Belphemon barely able to hold it with only his claws. He chucked it BlackGarurumon, who swallowed it without realizing.

"That's a speed pill, a rare item," Belphemon informed. "Your speed increases greatly and will remain at that level for the next several hours. No matter what size or level you are, that small pill will work for the same amount of time. Be grateful, it was difficult too get hold of one!"

BlackGarurumon gave a hateful look and turned around.

"BlackGarurumon!" Belphemon exclaimed. "If you encounter Yggdrasdil or Dorumon, stay away from them! I've been given permission to punish you personally if you disobey me!"

"Fine," BlackGarurumon grumbled as he left the castle.

BlackGarurumon ran through the Forest of Confusion with no trouble at all, like he knew every possible route by heart. He began running as fast as he could in the direction of the Ancient Proving Grounds.

Morning once again arrived in the Digital World. After preparing something to eat, the Digimon traveling with Nero and the others returned to sparring with each other. Since Guilmon and Ryudamon could now digivolve to the Champion level, all of the Digimon took their Champion forms. GinRyumon, Greymon, Growlmon, and Veedramon all took on Dorugamon at the same time.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted, unleashing a fireball at Dorugamon.

Dorugamon swatted the attack back at the group with his tail, causing it to hit GinRyumon. Luckily for her, her thick armor protected her from any damage. The five Digimon all took a quick break after a sessions, panting pretty hard.

"He's too strong…" said Greymon.

"What did you expect? He is Lord Yggdrasil's partner," GinRyumon replied.

"Perhaps we'd be more effective if you'd start fighting and stop watching," Veedramon muttered. "Come on, we can beat him if we try!"

"He's right about one thing, we've got to try harder!" Growlmon stated.

The Digimon finished catching their breaths and once again charged at Dorugamon. After several rounds of attacks, Dorugamon swerved past attacks from all four Digimon and struck both Greymon and Veedramon in the chest with powerful, but not full strength kicks, knocking both down. While Veedramon quickly got back to his feet, Greymon reverted back to being Agumon.

"Agu, are you okay?" Veedramon asked.

"I'm done," Agumon answered. "I'm out of energy."

Nero asked everyone to stop fighting and the group went to check on Agumon condition. Alex and Aimi carried him off while Nero asked if all of the Digimon were okay. They all told him that they still had plenty of energy.

Alex resumed watching the Digimon spar while Aimi got Agumon some food. Agumon's strength quickly recovered, and he was back to eating like he usually did. Nero's focus had temporarily shifted to Agumon.

"Strange, not only is Agumon a little weaker than he should be, but he also seems to only have half the stamina of the others," he pondered. "If I was back home I could check Agumon's programming code and see what happened, but I can't now. I just hope nothing is wrong with him."

Agumon finished eating, but he wasn't quite up to feeling like sparring again.

"I've got an idea!" Aimi announced, leaving Agumon's side and running to Nero. "Hey, Nero, there's a small field of flowers not far from here, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess there is," Nero replied, remembering that Aimi had climbed up some of the ruins earlier in the morning and could probably see a bit into the distance. "What about it?"

"Mind if I take Agumon with me to go pick some?" Aimi requested.

Nero looked at Agumon and could see that he probably wasn't in much of a fighting mood. He smiled and agreed.

Meanwhile, Andrew and Kudamon were less than a day's walk away. However, seeing how they would stop to rest every now and then, and would set up camp at night, they probably wouldn't meet up until around noon the next day, that is so long as Nero and the others didn't walk away from their current location. In that situation it could be earlier or later depending on the direction.

As they continued walking, a sudden burst of wind blew past. Andrew held his left arm out in front of him in a futile attempt to cover his eyes and Kudamon as well. They were nearly blown back by the force.

"What was that?" Andrew wondered.

"I think it was a Digmon," Kudamon wondered. "I couldn't tell which Digimon it was, but I didn't like the vibe it gave off."

Aimi and Agumon were picking strange whiten blue, and red flowers in a very small patch about half a mile from the Ancient Proving Grounds. They were still out of sight from Nero and the others, but close enough to alert them of danger if necessary. Though he was a guy, Agumon didn't mind picking flowers, especially it with his partner.

"This one's pretty," Agumon admitted, holding up what sort of resembled a red lily, only the tips glowed a blue color as if they were made of glass.

"Yeah, it is," Aimi agreed.

A sudden burst of wind came from behind them, uprooting half of the flowers and reducing the one Agumon was holding to nothing but a stem.

"Picking flowers?" a voice growled. "I think even less of you then I did before!"

Aimi and Agumon both turned around to see BlackGarurumon. Agumon quickly jumped in front of Aimi.

"Aw, how cute," BlackGarurumon chuckled. "I must admit, I didn't expect to encounter you again."

"We've met before?" Agumon asked curiously.

"I can see you don't recognize me," BlackGarurumon sighed. "You can relax, I'm not interested in fighting a weakling like you. But if you're here, I guess that means Dorumon is here too."

"You'll never get the chance to face him!" Agumon declared.

"Really? You're going to stop me?" BlackGarurumon snickered. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon yelled, shooting a fireball from his mouth at the Digimon.

BlackGarurumon realized that the effects of the pill had worn off, but he could still dodge the attack if he wanted to. Deciding not to waste the energy, BlackGarurumon took the attack without receiving any damage.

"I thought you were going to try and stop me?" BlackGarurumon cackled.

Agumon grew angry while Aimi took out her Digivice. She tried to remember her user ID number.

"Data Analyzer, open! Code: LveBeauty923 Um… 2149006" she stated after flipping through the menu.

Despite her little "Um…" the analyzer opened. However, the only things that appeared were BlackGarurumon's picture, his name, and level.

"Agumon, you can't beat him!" Aimi shouted. "He's a Champion!"

"A Champion?" Agumon repeated in the form of a question.

"Smart thinking," BlackGarurumon complimented. "Like I said, I'm not interested in fighting a weakling like you. Still, knowing Belphemon rate of failure, his 'minions' were probably defeated by Dorumon already. I suppose I could apprehend the both of you for my master. Who knows? He might finally trust me over that jerk if I bring him a human."

"You'll never touch her!" Agumon roared. Aimi's Digivice started to glow, causing Agumon to become Greymon again. "I'll make sure of it!"

BlackGarurumon was surprised by the action, but not so surprised it left him speechless. In fact, he seemed to smile at the sight.

"So, you can digivolve too, eh?" he observed. "Well, Belphemon wanted me to get experience, I suppose you couldn't be any weaker than those ShadowToyAgumon. He told me to stay away from Dorumon and Yggdrasil, but he never said anything about you!"

BlackGarurumon lunged at Greymon, slaming his body into his. Greymon was pushed back by the hit, but managed to quickly regain his posture.

"Nova Blast!" shouted Greymon, firing a large fireball at BlackGarurumon.

BlackGarurumon jumped into the air to avoid the attack.

"Howling Blaster!" he yelled, unleashing a burst of blue icy cold flames.

Greymon took the attack head-on. He easily could have dodged it, but had he done so, Aimi would've been hit. Aimi quickly realized that she was in the line of fire and ran. Greymon was not frozen by the attack, but he had sustained serious damage. Still, he didn't back down and remained standing.

"Still standing?" BlackGarurumon thought. "This guy may be a little more fun than I thought."

Greymon had to admit that BlackGarurumon was pretty strong, but he was nothing compared to Dorugamon. In fact, he didn't seem much stronger than he himself was. Greymon turned to make sure Aimi was a safe enough distance away. After confirming it, he turned back to face BlackGarurumon.

Greymon once again spat another fireball at BlackGarurumon.BlackGarurumon was disappointed by the lack of originality and once again leapt into the ait. BlackGarurumon once again unleashed a bnlast of icy flames at Greymon. Greymon dodged the attack this time and opened his mouth.

"Fire Wall!" he shouted, spewing a wall of flames directly underneath BlackGarurumon.

"I see," BlackGarurumon said in an impressed tone. "Good try, but not good enough! Ice Wall!"

BlackGarurumon opened his mouth and created a wall of ice in place of the flames. The ice melted into water to put out the flames and then formed nothing but ice. BlackGarurumon used the wall of ice to jump off and lunged himself at Greymon. Greymon countered by slamming his head and horns into the Digimon, causing him to fly back into the wall of ice and shatter it. BlackGarurumon hit the ground behind it with a powerful thud.

"What's the matter?" Greymon laughed. "I thought you said I was a weakling."

"You are!" BlackGarurumon retorted, pushing himself to his feet. "That barely hurt at all."

BlackGarurumon was unaware of the damage he had actually received. He was probably in just as bad a condition as greymon.

"I'll give you this much, you're not half bad," BlackGarurumon stated.

"I was thinking the same thing," Greymon responded with a smirk.

BlackGarurumon gave a small snicker in response to the statement.

"You should serve my master," BlackGarurumon suggested. "I'm sure even a Digimon such as yourself could be somewhat useful."

"Forget it!" Greymon roared, no longer smiling. "I would never betray Lord Yggdrasil, or my partner!"

"Well, it's not like you'll have a much a choice," BlackGarurumon replied. "So long as I don't kill you first, that is!"

BlackGarurumon opened his mouth and spew more icy blue flames at Greymon. Greymoun countered by unleashing a burst of flames directly at the oncoming attack. The two attacks collided, both Digimon trying to overpower the other. The two attacks continued to push each other back until they finally became even. The moment that happened, an explosion occurred, knocking Greymon to his back. Greymon reverted back to his Rookie form, Agumon.

BlackGarurumon leapt through the smoke and landed on Agumon. He raised a claw to give the final blow, but suddenly stopped when he was just inches away from Agumon's neck. Agumon was completely helpless, but BlackGarurumon couldn't finish him off. He stepped off of him and began taking steps back.

"W-Why?" he asked himself. "Why can't I finish him?"

BlackGarurumon sat down and placed his front paws over his head. His body began to glow as he de-digivolved into his Rookie form; it was BlackGabumon.

"I-It's you…" Agumon said weakly as he looked up and over at the Digimon.

BlackGabumon continued to grab his head.

"N-No…I can't lose control!" he told himself. "Not here! I-If I do, h-he'll never trust me…"

Aimi ran over to Agumon's side and noticed BlackGabumon. She held up her Digivivce and saw him.

"BlackGabumon?" she wondered.

BlackGabumon held up his head, still looking troubled.

"Y-Yes, that's my name," he stated. "W-Who are you?"

"I'm Aimi, and my partner is Agumon!" Aimi answered.

"Agumon?" BlackGabumon replied. "Well, we'll call this a draw. Until next time, my almost worthy adversary."

BlackGabumon winced in pain and ran back the way he came as fast as he could.

"That was weird," Aimi said to Agumon.

"Hey!" Nero's voice called.

Aimi looked up to the sky and saw Nero riding Dorugamon. Everyone else was on their way over as well. Dorugamon landed and Nero hopped off his back. He noticed Agumon and then looked at the surrounding area.

"What happened here?" he wondered.

"It was BlackGabumon!" Aimi shouted. "He digivolved and attacked us!"

"BlackGabumon?" Nero questioned, having never truly looked him up on his Digivice.

"This guy!" Aimi informed, holding up her Digivice and showing his picture.

"Him again," said Nero, remembering BlackGabumon.

Dorugamon approached Agumon, whom was just getting up. Agumon looked up to the sky and wondered why BlackGabumon didn't kill him when he had the chance.

Meanwhile, BlackGabumon continued heading back in the direction of Maze Castle. He was much slower now even without the damage to his body, especially in his Rookie form.

"Agumon, huh?" he thought as he continued running as fast as his body would allow.


	14. Chapter 13: Kudamon, the Strategic

**Chapter 13: ****Ku****damon****, the Strategic ****Digimon**

Night had fallen upon the area once again; everyone was gathered around a small fire, eating some dinner. Agumon was not eating though; he was staring up at the night sky. Veemon noticed that Agumon wasn't eating and approached him, still carrying a paper bowl full of rice in his hands.

"Hey, Agu, what's wrong?" asked Veemon.

"It's BlackGabumon," Agumon answered. "I just don't understand why he didn't kill me when he the chance."

"He probably didn't have the strength," Veemon replied, swallowing down some rice. "Besides, if he had killed you, you wouldn't be able to protect Aimi."

Veemon grabbed Agumon's food from in front of him and handed it to him.

"You're right," said Agumon with a smile. "That would be a problem!"

Still, Agumon couldn't get over the thought that BlackGabumon was different from the other virus-infected Digimon. He wasn't the only one who was thinking about it, BlackGabumon, still heading towards Maze Castle, wondered why he had hesitated to finish off Agumon.

"Maybe the master will know what's going on," he thought, running even slower than before. "First things first, I have to get back to that jerk."

Meanwhile, Andrew and Kudamon had set up a small fire not too far away. Kudamon lay on a rock and bathed in the moonlight, staring up at the clear night sky. Andrew was positioned against a tree stump. BlackGabumon happened to run close by, and although Kudamon lifted his head upon sensing an unwelcoming presence, nobody caught glimpse of each other.

"What's up, Kudamon?" Andrew wondered after seeing Kudamon lift his head.

"It's nothing," the Digimon replied, setting his head back down. "We should leave early tomorrow. We don't want them moving on us."

"Agreed!" replied Andrew.

A few hours passed and BlackGabumon found himself unable to continue on his journey. His injuries from his fight with Greymon were kicking in, and he collapsed to the ground.

A Digimon known as SkullBarukimon was flying overhead in the moonlight. He resembled a skeletal model of a Sabertooth Tiger and large dog hybrid with devil-like horns for ears. The bones of the Digimon had a crystal blue color, and he had glowing red eyes.

The Digimon looked down below and observed the area. It was by mere chance that he managed to spot BlackGabumon, causing him to immediately fly down to his aid.

"BlackGabumon!" he called. "What happened to you?! I thought you were supposed to be training! Don't tell me Musyamon did this to you!"

BlackGabumon slowly lifted his head and looked at the Digimon. SkullBarukimon observed BlackGabumon's body carefully; he didn't appear to have injured himself due to losing control.

"I better take you back to Lord Belphemon!" SkullBarukimon announced, grabbing BlackGabumon with his mouth and tossing him onto his back. "Hang on!"

SkullBarukimon took off into the air, soaring towards Maze Castle.

Night quickly turned to day as Andrew and Kudamon awoke. Andrew looked at his Digivice and saw that Nero and the large group hadn't moved yet.

"Let's go, Kudamon!" he said, extending an arm.

"Right!" Kudamon responded, running up the arm and perching himself upon Andrew's shoulder.

It was a couple hours before Nero's group woke up. Everyone stretched themselves out and made some breakfast.

"We don't have much food left," Alex pointed out.

"I think I know the reason," Ryudamon stated, her eyes shifting towards Veemon.

"What?" said Veemon with his mouth full of bread, wondering what Ryudamon was looking at him for.

Agumon was back to eating like his old self as well. Nero glanced at his DIgivice and saw that one signal was approaching.

"I'd like to get one more session in before we go," Nero announced. "We'll leave later this afternoon. There's a town that's about a couple days or so away from here. I need to pick something up there anyway."

The group finished eating and repeated the same training routine that they had been doing for the past couple days.

Back at Maze Castle, SkullBarukimon dropped a weakened BlackGabumon in front of Belphemon. Belphemon growled angrily at BlackGabumon as he tried to push himself to his feet.

"I found him like this quite a ways from the Ancient Proving Grounds, my lord," SkullBraukimon informed.

"Thank you for bringing him back," Belphemon replied, trying to hide his anger. "Continue your search for Yggdrasil, I suggest trying the area where you found him."

SkullBarukimon bowed his head and left the castle grounds, taking to the skies once again. Belphemon returned his attention to BlackGabumon, whom was limping his way back to his room.

"I ordered you to stay away from Yggdrasil and Dorumon!" roared Belphemon.

"Shut it!" BlackGabumon spat, not even turning to face him. "I DID obey you! I never even saw either of them!"

There was truth to BlackGabumon's words, and while Belphemon questioned how he got in the condition he was in, he had a feeling that BlackGabumon wasn't lying.

A few hours later, Andrew and Kudamon finally arrived at the Ancient Proving Grounds. They looked around the area and saw a few Digimon fighting each other, but no humans. As they continued to look, they eventually spotted Nero's group and the Digimon among them sparring. Andrew counted four humans, and five Digimon.

"Yo!" a voice from behind greeted.

Andrew and Kudamon nearly jumped in place, turning around to see Nero.

"I was wondering when you two were going to show up," Nero stated. After the startled duo regained their composure, Nero extended a hand out. "I'm Nero, Nero Arakaki."

"Oh, hey, I'm Andrew Dennison," Andrew replied, shaking Nero's hand. "My partner here is Kudamon."

Kudamon had yet to say anything, examining Nero carefully.

"Lord Yggdrasil, it's an honor," he finally said.

"Yggdrasil?" Andrew gasped.

Nero held out a hand and patted Kudamon on the head, resulting in a smile from him.

"Yes, that's what all of the Digimon call me," Nero responded.

Nero introduced Andrew and Kudamon to Aimi, Alex, Ana, and Hikaru. Andrew said hello to them, but nothing really beyond that. Kudamon observed the Digimon currently sparring and was intrigued. Nero explained what was going on. Kudamon's interest was mainly held by Dorugamon, who barely received any damage when the others finally managed to land an attack or two.

"Everyone, come and say hi to Andrew and Kudamon!" Nero shouted.

The Digimon all froze in place, Dorugamon and GinRyumon landing on the ground after having been fighting in the air. The Digimon all kindly greeted the two, happy to meet some new friends.

"Mind if I join you guys in a round?" requested Kudamon.

"Are you sure about this?" Andrew wondered.

"Have I participated in a battle I didn't think I could handle?" Kudamon answered.

"Good point," replied Andrew.

"Sure, why not?" Veedramon said to Kudamon in a humiliated tone. "We could use the help."

"Yes, he's quite strong," Growlmon agreed, referring to Dorugamon.

Dorugamon glanced at Nero, whom nodded his head.

"All right, but we should probably change back into our Rookie forms first," Dorugamon suggested. "It wouldn't be fair if we were all Champions."

"That won't be necessary," Kudamon stated, leaping off Andrew's shoulder onto the ground. It was during this action that Kudamon's small size rally stood out among the Digimon. "Andrew!"

"Right!" Andrew exclaimed, taking out his Digivice.

Andrew's Digivice began to glow, releasing a beam of light that struck Kudamon.

"Kudamon digivolve to…" Kudamon shouted as his form began to change. He was now about the size of an ordinary fox, and was more fox-like himself. His fur became a whitish-yellow color, yin-yang symbols on the sides of his hind legs. His front and back legs had brown fur, and his nails were now very sharp. He wore a candy-cane pattern rope around his chest. He had a large white mane, and his face was white with red markings, standard whiskers sticking out of his snout. His eyes had become squinted, almost unnoticeable lines. In addition, his tail had changed into a blue blade with an eye on it. He shouted out the named of his new form. "Reppamon!"

Everyone stared in awe at Kudamon's digivolution.

"You can digivolve already?" Hikaru gasped, knowing that Ryudamon had only learned how to digivolve a couple days ago.

"Of course,' Reppamon answered. "How else do you think Andrew and I survived all this time?"

"I guess that makes sense," Hikaru admitted, scratching his head.

Reppamon stood beside the four other Digimon that were facing Dorugamon. Dorugamon was already sweating a bit. It was hard enough sparring against four Digimon, but five would a problem.

"You guys stay back and wait for my signal!" Kudamon exclaimed.

"What?!" Veedramon groaned.

"Why?" Greymon wondered.

"Trust me, I've got a plan!" Reppamon assured.

"We might as well try it," GinRyumon sighed. "It's not like we've had any luck so far."

She was right, and Veedramon knew it, grumbling to himself as he agreed. Reppamon stepped forward to confront Dorugamon.

"This guy's taking me on himself?" thought Dorugamon. "He must be up to something! I've never seen this guy fight before, so I should be careful and attack from a distance!"

Dorugamon leapt into the air, extending his wings and hovering in the sky.

"Power Metal!" he shouted, shooting metal orbs from his mouth at Reppamon.

Reppamon jumped into the air to avoid the attack, doing a forward roll as he headed towards Dorugamon.

"Flip Blade!" he yelled, trying to slash Dorugamon with his tail.

Dorugamon flew higher to avoid it.

"Wind Scythe!" Reppamon exclaimed, changing his roll into a spin and firing blades of wind at Dorugamon.

Dorugamon just barely managed to avoid the attack, receiving a minor scratch across the cheek, and fired more metal orbs at Reppamon. Reppamon landed on the ground and couldn't avoid the attack, taking heavy damage. Dorumon descended a bit as he continued his assault.

"Now!" Reppamon shouted.

Dorugamon cancelled his attack and turned around to see the Greymon and Veedramon unleashing their attacks from below and behind him. Dorugamon flew a bit higher to avoid their attacks, only to find GinRyumon there to strike him with her tail. Dorugamon knocked downwards towards Growlmon, who struck him with his Dragon Slash attack, sending him towards the distance. Greymon and Veedramon both struck him as he came their way, hurling him to the ground and creating a long trail of broken tiles. The Digimon were all panting after expending all of their energy. Dorugamon had reverted back Dorumon. He tried to push himself up but fell back to the ground. Kudamon was in worse shape, having reverted back to his Rookie form about the same time as Dorumon.

"Kudamon!" Andrew cried, rushing over to his partner's side.

Nero ran over to Dorumon, examining his wounds. Nero was impressed with Kudamon. He knew that the Digimon, though much more powerful than him, were too slow to be able to land too many hits. Therefore, he has used his speed to distract Dorugamon. Since Dorugamon didn't know that Reppamon was actually fairly weak, he wouldn't take any chances and would perceive him as the biggest threat. He also knew that, while Dorugamon would severely hurt him, Dorugamon wouldn't kill him. Had it been an actual battle in a similar situation, Kudamon would have found a way to escape with the smallest amount of damage to the group as a whole. Nero could tell that Kudamon would never come up with a plan if he couldn't ensure the safety of everyone else.

"He's a bit crazy, but that was the safest way to take down an enemy as strong as Dorugamon in an open area like this," Nero thought. "He's really something! Most Digimon, Dorumon included, just charge into battle."

The group sat down for lunch and Nero used the items he had received from the basketball game before to help speed up Dorumon and Kudamon's recovery.

"How do you feel, buddy?" Nero asked Dorumon.

"Well, I can't say I was expecting that," Dorumon replied with a child-like laugh. "Good job, everyone!"

"How about you, Kudamon?" Andrew asked his partner.

"I think…I miscalculated his strength," Kudamon answered, getting to his feet and climbing onto Andrew's shoulder. "Remind me not to try that with him again."

After the Digimon had recovered enough of their strength, Nero and the group set off once again.

"We're heading straight west," Nero announced. "There's a town called Ikebana Town there. It's small but it's one of the few places in the Digital World that sells a particular item I'm looking for."

"What kind of item?" Aimi wondered.

"The kind of item that'll help us defeat Belphemon!" Nero exclaimed, clenching his hand into a fist and holding it out in front of him.

"Belphemon?" Andrew questioned.

Everyone had forgotten that Andrew and Kudamon were not yet informed of Belphemon. As Nero and the others explained the situation, Kudamon's eyes widened a bit.

"I think I know where Belphemon is!" Kudamon burst out.

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"Yeah, it was back when we were in the Forest of Confusion!" Kudamon explained. "While we were traversing through the forest, we passed extremely close by a few not-so-friendly Digimon. Though we managed to stay far enough away to the point they wouldn't notice us, I remember overhearing one of them mention Belphemon."

"The Forest of Confusion, huh?" Nero pondered. "Why would he be there? Unless… That's it! He's at Maze Castle! It's the perfect hiding place!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Hikaru.

"I'll explain on the way!" Nero answered.


	15. Chapter 14: Soar, DoruGreymon!

**Chapter 14: Nero ****Falls Ill! Soar, ****DoruGreymon!**

Nero and the others began their long tread towards Ikebana Town.

"So let me see if I've got it all down, you're saying that Belphemon's in this Maze Castle place, right?" Alex questioned.

"That's correct," Nero confirmed. "As far as my knowledge goes, nobody has ever gotten through the entire thing, so they don't know what the boss looks like. My guess is that Belphemon defeated him and took over the castle. You see, Maze Castle generates a random map every time you enter it, making it impossible to map out completely."

"I see, but how are we going to make it through there?" asked Alex.

"Don't worry about it," Nero replied with an innocent smile, saying nothing more on the subject.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Sandra had arrived at Harbor Town, which was, as the name suggests, a small town with a huge port. They had been there for about a day and were currently walking down a street filled with various NPC Digimon that were selling seafood. Dracmon and Swimmon had been left at one of the docks to relax.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to stay here so long," said Sandra, looking at her Digivice. "It looks like the larger group is now moving away from us."

"That's why we should remain in one place," Aaron explained. "If we're needed as much as that message said, then chances are they'll be looking for us sooner or later. I can understand your concern, but knowing our luck, chances are we'd end up even further away."

"Good point," Sandra sighed, remembering Dracmon. "Still, let's find a map or something and go to another town that at least a little closer and doesn't smell like fish."

A couple hours had passed since Nero and the others began their trip towards Ikebana Town. Though the sun hadn't even begun to set yet, Nero told everyone to take a break and set up camp. Alex and Aimi both thought that it was a bit strange that Nero wanted to set up camp so soon, not that they were complaining or anything. Even Hikaru and Ana, whom both hadn't been with him as long, found it a little odd. Nero lay down on the grass and spread his arms and legs out, taking deep breaths.

"Lord Yggdrasil, are you okay?" Dorumon asked in a worried tone, seeing Nero act so strangely. Dorumon noticed Nero's right leg and saw a swollen red area. "What happened to your leg?"

"My leg?" Nero replied, sitting up and examining his leg. "Hmm, I don't know. It doesn't hurt or itch. Maybe I sat on it wrong or something."

Dorumon questioned the likelihood of that, but trusted Nero when he said he was fine. Nero stood back up and rejoined the others to discuss some things. After taking it easy for a while, Nero seemed to be fine.

Unbeknownst to the group, they weren't alone. A pair of yellow eyes examined the group from above in a nearby tree.

"What luck!" a female voice said in quiet voice. "Who would've thought they'd turn up here? Lord Belphemon will be pleased!"

A tiny black figure jumped out from the tree and left the area. A couple more hours passed and the group sat around an open fire, enjoying the peace and quiet of the now night surrounding. The peace and quiet was suddenly broken by the sound of a twig snapping. The Digimon all jumped to their feet, sensing a dark presence.

"What's wrong, Guilmon?" Ana wondered.

"There's something here!" Guilmon answered.

"But, I don't see anything!" Aimi stated.

The moon was slowly rising into the night sky, and it had yet to reach a point to provide enough light to the scenery.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted, forming a ball of flames in his mouth and shooting the area in front of him.

Agumon's fireball caused the grass to catch fire, slowly lighting up the area. A group of black cat-like Digimon that resembled Mikemon could be seen. Everyone looked around and saw that they were surrounded by ten of them. The Digimon all hissed at Agumon, having exposed them with his fire. Nero took out his Digivice and looked up the Digimon. Dorumon caught glimpse of Nero's arm, which was red like his leg.

"BlackGatomon are Champion-level Digimon," he informed. "That's all I have on them."

"Well then, let us give you some more information," one of them cackled. "Let's go!"

The BlackGatomon lunged at the group, targeting the Digimon and avoiding the humans. The BlackGatomon that seemed to be the leader attacked Dorumon, claws fully extended. Dorumon jumped back to avoid he oncoming strike. BlackGatomon landed and quickly leapt at Dorumon, trying to punch him. Dorumon blocked the punch and BlackGatomon quickly turned to kick at him. Dorumon blocked the kick as well, leaping into the air and shooting his projectiles at the Digimon. BlackGatomon jumped back and avoided all damage.

All of the Digimon fought the BlackGatomon on nearly equal levels of strength. Kudamon was the only one not fighting, realizing that it was going nowhere.

"Andrew!" he shouted.

Andrew nodded his head and held out his Digivice, which was starting to glow. Kudamon digivolved to his Champion form, Reppamon, and jumped into the air.

"Wind Scythe!" he yelled, swinging his tail forward and attacks the BlackGatomon with blades of wind.

Reppamon had managed to hit six of the BlackGatomon, knocking them all back and away from the other Digimon. Two of them were fighting with Ryudamon and Veemon, and Dorumon was still fighting the leader.

"Wait, weren't there ten of them?" Andrew questioned.

"I got him!" another female voice shouted.

Everyone looked and saw that one of the BlackGatomon was on top of an unmoving Nero.

"Good job!" the leader of the BlackGatomon complimented.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" Dorumon cried out, upon seeing the BlackGatomon. Nero didn't respond, and Dorumon grew extremely angry. He steppe forward, snarling with eyes full of hatred. "What did YOU do?!"

The BlackGatomon gulped and got off Nero's body, now terrified of Dorumon. It ran over to the other BlackGatomon. All of the other partner Digimon back away, not wanting to get involved.

"N-Nothing…" the Digimon stuttered. "He was like this when I got here!"

Dorumon didn't listen to the excuse. He jumped into the air, the gem on his forehead glowing brighter than ever.

"DAV Beam!" he roared, unleashing an unusually large anti-viral beam at the group of BlackGatomon.

The leader of the BlackGatomon held out her arms to block the bright light away from her eyes. When she lowered them, she saw an extremely tired-looking Dorumon and nine eggs.

"F-Forget this!" the BlackGatomon exclaimed, running away as fast as she could in fear. "You'll pay for this someday!"

Even though Dorumon had expended most of his energy using his DAV attack the way he did, he still scurried over to Nero's body. Nero's arms and legs were red, and his face looked extremely pale. Dorumon began shaking his body.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" he called. "Lord Yggdrasil!"

Nero didn't say anything, he didn't even move. Dorumon placed his hand on Nero's head and felt I burning, quickly removing it.

"Nero!" Alex called as the group ran over, reaching for him upon arriving on the scene.

"Don't touch him!" Dorumon ordered without even turning to see who it was.

"Dorumon, it's me," Alex replied, once again reaching for him.

"Stop!" Veemon told her, grabbing her arm. "If you touch him, you'll get sick too!"

"Sick?" Ana questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Lord Yggdrasil appears have contracted the disease known as Digipheral," Reppamon explained. "It causes the limbs to swell, but doesn't cause any pain when doing. It then spreads throughout the body and eventually to the heart, where it prevents blood flow. It's highly contagious, but only by touch. If he's not treated soon, he'll die."

"It supposedly died out hundreds of years ago because we Digimon developed immunity to it," Guilmon added. "I don't know how he contracted it now, but he needs a vaccination immediately!"

The humans backed away a bit, not wanting to get too close. Dorumon nudged Nero's body with his head, rubbing his fur against him.

"I'm taking him to Ikebana Town!" Dorumon announced.

Nero's Digivice began to glow and Dorumon digivolved to his Champion stage, Dorugamon.

"Wait, what about us?" Hikaru asked. "None of us know how to get there."

"You have a Digivice, don't you?" responded Dorugamon, placing Nero on his back and wrapping his arms around his neck. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time! Reppamon's the only one fast enough to keep up with me, and he can't carry anyone."

Before anyone could object, Dorugamon flew into the night sky as fast as he could, the wind beneath his wings creating a nice breeze across everyone's faces.

"I hope he'll be okay," said Alex.

"He'll be fine," Veemon replied in an assuring voice. "Much as I hate to say it, Lord Yggdrasil couldn't be in safer care."

"Yeah, but what about Dorugamon?" Ryudamon wondered. "He used up most of his energy already."

Meanwhile, SkullBarukimon arrived in the area where he originally found BlackGabumon. He examined the area, but did not find anyone.

"Maybe I should head farther east," he thought.

Just as he was about to continue, he caught glimpse of something in the distance. It was Dorugamon, barely made noticeable by the moonlight. SkullBarukimon was surprised to see the Digimon conveniently before him, and even more surprised to find him alone.

Dorugamon took no notice of SkullBarukimon as he passed by. He was completely focused on reaching Ikebana Town.

"Hold on, Lord Yggdrasil!" he told his unconscious partner.

Dorugamon's ears perked up as head someone saying the words "Demon Darts". Dorugamon flew higher to avoid what he was sure was an attack. He turned his head to see two small gray imp-like Digimon with devil wings and red Mohawk hairstyles chasing him. Accompanying the two Digimon was SkullBarukimon.

"Just my luck!" he grumbled. "A couple Vilemon and a SkullBarukimon… Just what I need!"

Dorugamon tried to gather the energy into the gem on his forehead, but found himself unable to.

"This is bad, I don't have the energy to use my DAV beam!" he thought, looking at Nero on his back. "I can't fight them through normal means either, or Lord Yggdrasil could be hurt."

Nero stirred for a brief second, but only for a second. His small movements caused Dorugamon to realize that he couldn't stop and waste time, nor could he be too reckless. He made sure Nero's arms were tightly around his neck and grabbed his legs with his arms.

"Hang in there!" he said.

The two Vilemon began throwing laser darts at the two of them. Dorugamon turned his body a bit to avoid the attacks, moving up and down constantly. The Vilemon continued their onslaught while SkullBarukimon observed from the rear.

"Why isn't he fighting back?" SkullBarukimon pondered. SkullBarukimon examined the figure of Dorugamon from the distance and finally took notice of Nero on his back. "What?! No!"

SkullBarukimon increased his speed and bonked the two Vilemon on their heads.

"You idiots hold your fire!" the Digimon ordered. "He's carrying Lord Yggdrasil! If you hit him, the master will have our heads!"

The two Vilemon gulped and stopped attacking Dorugamon with their Demon Darts. Instead, the two Digimon increased their speed, able to since they were no longer attacking, and tied to catch up to Dorugamon. Dorugamon was so tired that the two eventually caught up to him. They tried to take Nero away from him, but Dorugamon swerved and managed to hold to Nero, even managing to headbutt one of them. He managed to gain a little distance between them and the two backed off.

As Dorugamon inhaled and took a deep breath, he noticed SkullBarukimon directly overhead. SkullBarukimon came crashing down on top of Dorugamon, forcing to accidentally let go of Nero. The two Vilemon worked together to catch Nero while Dorugamon plummeted towards the ground below.

"Lord Yggdrasil…" Dorugamon uttered, barely able to keep his eyes open.

Dorugamon began remembering some of the adventures he had in the Digital World with Nero, and even remembered when he was created.

"You're a very special Digimon," Nero had told him through the computer screen. "You're a one-of-a-kind Digimon with a design unlike anything every seen. Nobody knows anything about you or your origin. For that reason, I'm naming you Dorumon."

Dorugamon then remembered how he failed to find and destroy the virus the first time, and how he had promised to protect Nero. His eyes shot up as Nero's Digivice began to glow.

"That's right… I have to protect Lord Yggdrasil!" Dorugamon stated, extending his wings and hovering in place. "I have to protect my friend! I have to protect Nero!"

The Digivice shot a beam of light at Dorugamon, encasing him in a sphere of blinding light.

"Dorugamon digivolve to…" he said as his body began changing. His body increased massively in size, his fur turning red with black zigzag markings all over. His arms resembled front legs now, and his grew even sharper. He now had four large blackish-silver wings with yellow spikes on the end. His tail grew longer and thicker, now sporting a yellow bladed tip. His belly and snout remained white, and his paws were now white as well. His new form shouted out the name that went along with it. "DoruGreymon!"

SkullBarukimon and the two Vilemon gazed up Dorumon's Ultimate form with both amazement and fear. DoruGreymon stretched his longer neck out, his long white fur mane travelling down his back now quite noticeable. He straightened out his wings and zoomed higher into the air, now at the same height as the three opposing Digimon.

"Hand over Lord Yggdrasil, now!" he demanded.

"N-Never!" SkullBarukimon shouted, positioning himself to ram his body into DoruGreymon.

DoruGreymon sighed and raised his tail, smacking the oncoming SkullBarukimon and flinging him backwards. The two Vilemon both showed signs of intense fear as DoruGreymon eyed them.

"Hand him over!" DoruGreymon snarled.

"Y-Yes, sir!" both immediately replied. "Right away, sir!"

The two flew over and gently set Nero down on his back. They then backed away, getting a scolding from SkullBarukimon as he returned. DoruGremon began gathering his energy into the gem on his forehead, and then transferred it into the large bladed horn now present where his nose would be.

"DAV Charge!" he yelled, unleashing a large blast of electrical-like energy at the three Digimon.

The attacked forced the three corrupted Digimon into eggs. The eggs fell to the ground below, but luckily landed safely among some treetops. DoruGreymon sighed with relief and made sure Nero was safely positioned on his back. With speed even greater than before, he soared towards Ikebana Town.

It was late at night, or more appropriately said, early in the morning when DoruGreymon arrived at the small town surrounded by nothing but gorgeous field of flowers. There were only about four or five trees overall in the area, and they were all covered in flowers.

DoruGreymon managed to locate a very small medical hut, knocking on the door with his large paws. It took several knocks, but a Digimon finally answered. It was a white colored version of Wizardmon known as Sorcerymon.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Sorcerymon mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

DoruGreymon apologized to Sorcerymon. Sorcerymon looked up to see the full size of DoruGreymon and nearly fainted from fear. DoruGreymon reverted to his Rookie form of Dorumon and collapsed on the ground in front of him. Nero had slipped off DoruGreymon's back when he was de-digivolving, but he landed safely on the ground.

"Please…save…Lord…Yggdrasil…" Dorumon begged before passing out.

Sorcerymon was shocked to hear Dorumon mention Yggdrasil. He instantly took Nero inside and examined him. He searched through a group of bottles on a small set of shelves and pulled one out. He inserted a needle inside it and drew out some liquid. He gave Nero a shot of the vaccination that would help cure him. Dourmon was set down on a small cot next to Nero so he could recover.

It was a couple days before Nero finally woke up. He was surprised by his surrounding and saw Dorumon snuggled up against him. Dorumon woke up due to Nero's movement and cheered happily, hugging his partner.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Nero!" Dorumon told him.

Nero had no idea what had just happened, but he hugged Dorumon back.

"Hey, Dorumon, what did you jut call me?" Nero asked.

Dorumon placed his hands over his mouth, realizing he had just called Nero by his name.

"It's all right," said Nero with a smile. "In fact, I'm glad you called me that."

Dorumon smiled back and started wagging his tail. He told Nero that he would continue to call him Lord Yggdrasil in front of the other Digimon as a sign of respect.

After Dorumon explained what had happened, Nero thanked him for everything and then thanked Sorcerymon. Sorcerymon was simply honored to be in Nero's presence. Nero looked at his Digivice and saw that the others were closing in on them.

At Maze Castle, Belphemon was extremely angry at SkullBarukimon's failure, and the fact that Dorumon could now digivolve to the Ultimate level. To make matters worse, he had received a report that Nero and the others knew where he was.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, Lord Belphemon," a dark voice announced.

Belphemon turned to see a figure approaching him from the shadows. It couldn't be made out very well, but it had the outline of a man with wings.

"Really now, Astamon? Tell me, what do you have in mind?" Belphemon replied.

"They'll have to come through the Forest of Confusion to get to here," Astamon cackled evilly. "That's where we'll get them!"


	16. Chapter 15: Trap in the Forest

**Chapter 15: Separated! Trap in the Forest of Confusion**

Nero stepped outside of Sorcerymon's place and looked at his Digivice again. He saw that the others would arrive within the hour and decided that now would be the perfect opportunity to go get the item he wanted to pick up.

"Let's go, Dorumon," Nero said to his partner.

"Right!" responded Dorumon, wagging his tail happily.

At Maze Castle, Belphemon was currently listening in on the mysterious Digimon's plan.

"Not bad, but are sure you can pull it off?" Belphemon asked with a sinister grin.

"Certainly, my lord!" Astamon assured. "My plan will not fail so long as those idiots you call henchmen don't do anything until I give the singal."

"Hey, Belphemon!" a familiar voice shouted.

Belphemon looked behind him to see BlackGabumon stomping his way over.

"Oh great," Belphemon grumbled, placing his mighty hand on his forehead.

"Speaking of idiots, this must be the infamous BlackGabumon," Astamon snickered.

"And you are?" BlackGabumon retorted.

"Astamon's the name," Astamon chuckled, amused by BlackGabumon.

He stepped forward, revealing himself to be a tall human-like Digimon with wings like Belpemon sprouting from his back. He wore what resembled a blue thre-button suit with grayish sleeves and red cuffs around his wrists. A red scarf rested around his neck, and his long white ragged hair flowed freely behind him while the lower half of his face looked like that of a decaying old man, the top potion was like Belphemon's, apart from the missing horns ears. He also had a cross-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Well, good for you," BlackGabumon replied sarcastically. The virus-corrupted Digimon returned his attention to Belphemon. "What's this I hear about Dorumon being even stronger now? Master wanted me to take care of him, and now I can't even do that!"

"Relax, Astamon's going to take care of everything," Belphemon answered with a low growl, annoyed with the young Digimon.

BlackGabumon turned around to see Astamon twirling a small knife in his right glove-covered hand. He also had a large brown gun in his left hand.

"Please, do you honestly think he'll succeed?" BlackGabumon scowled.

Astamon let his rifle-like gun lean against his side as he let go and clenched his left hand into a fist.

"Well if you think he'll fail, why not go and train to get stronger so you can actually do your supposed job?!" Belphemon replied.

BlackGabumon didn't say anything and stormed off down the hall.

"Cute kid," Astamon muttered, trying to keep his calm.

Meanwhile, Nero and Dorumon awaited the arrival of their comrades, standing by the entrance to the town. About ten minutes later, Dorumon saw the humans and their Digimon partners approaching the town.

"Hey!" Aira shouted, waving his right arm at the group.

Everyone began running towards the two, all laughing joyfully.

"Nero, you're all right!" Aimi cheered.

"Glad to see you're okay, Lord Yggdrasil," said Veemon.

"Agreed, losing you would be like losing Hikaru-sama," Ryudamon added in a low tone.

"Thanks everyone, but we aren't in the clear yet," Nero announced.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"You all need the vaccination as well," Nero informed. "You were all around me, and there's no telling when I actually caught the disease. You could all be infected!"

Without a moment's hesitation and with a bit of panic, the humans all scurried over to Sorcerymon's place within the town, having no idea where they were actually going. Nero stared up at the sky while the Digimon stayed around him.

"What's wrong?" Dorumon wondered.

"Oh, nothing," Nero answered, looking back at the Digimon.

In truth, Nero was concerned about how he had gotten sick. He had never programmed any kind of disease into the game, or the Digital World's history for that matter.

"Lord Yggdrasil, what's that?" Agumon asked, noticing a small bag in Nero's hand.

"You want to see it?" Nero responded with a small chuckle.

Agumon nodded his head and Nero held out a small brown bag. He handed it Agumon, whom used one of his claws to open it a little bit. A pink gas cloud was released into the air. Agumon took one whiff of it and fell to the ground, out cold.

"What was that?" Guilmon wondered.

"It is how we're going to defeat Belphemon," Nero answered, sealing the bag and putting it in his pocket. "It's a bag containing special flower petals that release a powerful knockout gas, one of two only possible ways to forcibly put a Digimon sleep through use of items in this game, though the other item is a flute that is nearly impossible to find. Sure, this gas only puts Digimon to sleep for a short while, but with Belphemon, that won't be quite the case."

Nero had been right about the effects lasting for only a short time, as Agumon soon awoke from his slumber.

"What happened?" he asked as he sat up and rubbed his forehead.

Nero and the Digimon began laughing and decided that they had better find the other humans. Nero guessed that by now they had found the place and were already getting the vaccination. He and the Digimon headed over to meet with the others. By the time they arrived, everyone had already received the shot.

"You could have told us where to go," Hikaru grumbled.

"You were the ones who ran off," Nero snickered.

Nero told everyone that they would be leaving after the group took a break form their journey. He had already picked up some more grocery supplies for everyone and stored them on his menu within his Digivice. The only reason he didn't store the bag of petals inside is because he had already maxed his storage out with various groceries, ordering the maximum amount that he could.

After staying in Ikebana Town for about an hour, the group continued on towards Maze Castle. It was night before they even realized it, and the group once again set up camp. While the Digimon alternated keeping watch all night, the group never came under attack. It was the same way for the next night and day as well.

It was a little bit after noon by the time the group reached the Forest of Confusion. They stood directly outside it, staring at the fog-covered forest.

"This place again," Andrew sighed, remembering having passed through it already with Kudamon.

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" Nero announced.

"Yeah, it doesn't look all that friendly," Aimi stated, a bit hesitant to enter.

"That's not it," Nero replied.

"What do you mean?" Veemon questioned.

"Haven't you realized it?" Ryudamon retorted, annoyed by Veemon's stupidity.

"We haven't been attacked once!" Dorumon pointed out.

All of the humans, except for Nero, gasped as they finally realized it.

"Hey, you're right!" Alex exclaimed. "You don't think…"

"That they're planning something?" Nero interrupted. "I'd be surprised if they weren't!"

"Based on what we know, Belphemon's sure to have realized that we're coming after him," Kudamon explained. "The fact that no Digimon have attacked us yet means that he's probably waiting for us. Having traversed this forest once before, I can personally say that it'd be the perfect chance to ambush us."

"Don't worry," said Nero. "I've memorized the map layout of this forest. So long as we stay together, I can guide us and we can avoid any ambushes."

After a couple minutes had passed, everyone finally agreed to enter the forest, staying close to Nero for guidance as the fog began to roll over them. Nero seemed unfazed by the fog, maneuvering through the forest as if there was no fog at all.

After walking through the forest for about half an hour, the group found themselves in a small clearing where the fog was a bit lighter. A lone figure could be seen, though it couldn't be made out.

"There's something ahead!" Dorumon announced.

Guilmon began growling and his pupils shrank in size as he sensed and eerie presence up ahead. Nero held up his Digivice to check out the information. Astamon's picture appeared on the screen.

"Astamon, an Ultimate-level Wizard-type Digimon of the Virus attribute. His Hellfire and Maverick attacks can be a real problem," he reported. "This guy looks like trouble. Everyone prepare yourselves!"

All of the Digimon took battle-ready positions, ready to digivolve at a moment's notice.

"Hold on a second," Alex told everyone. "I don't think he's moving."

Alex was right; the Digimon waiting for them wasn't moving. In fact, it looks like he was sitting down. The group cautiously approached until he was visible. He was sitting up against a tree with his eyes closed, almost as if he were sleeping.

Astamon paid no mind to them as they approached, remaining completely still until they were closer. He raised his head and smiled, his eyes still closed.

"Say, you kids look like you could use a map," Astamon stated.

At first, everyone jumped and thought Astamon was going to attack them. They quickly relaxed and were amazed.

"A map?" Nero questioned. "You mean you're not going to attack us?"

"Why would I want to attack you?" Astamon replied with a light chuckle. "It's dangerous to be coming through here without a map."

"Thanks, but I think we'll be fine," Nero responded in an untrusting tone.

"Are you sure your friends will be fine without a map, Lord Yggdrasil?" asked Astamon, slowly opening his big red eyes. Nero held out his Digivice, as did the others, and the Digimon prepared to digivolve. "Oh, you guys think you can actually beat me? This is going to be a BLAST!"

A strange yet familiar smell began to fill the air, the smell of something burning. The rustling of the grass and dirt suddenly became noticeable as something rolled over. Everyone's attention quickly turned tot he ground as a bunch black bomb-like Digimon appeared. They all had little black cat-shaped ears, and three eyes, each eye a different color of red, green, and yellow. The fuse-like tail of each little Digimon was nearly out.

"Th-Those are…" Nero stuttered.

"Bombmon who've been forced not to digivolve," Astamon cackled evilly.

As Astamon laughed in a maniacal manner, the fuses of the Bombmon went out. They began glowing a bright red color before finally exploding underneath the group. The resulting blast from so many Bombmon launched the group into the air, scattering them in different directions.

"Now, the fun truly begins," he laughed.

As Hikaru and Ryudamon were sent in one direction, Ryudamon quickly digivolved to GinRyumon and caught her partner on her back. Though the action hurt Hikaru, it didn't injure him anywhere near as badly as the fall would have.

"Thanks, Ryudamon," Hikaru uttered as he slowly lifted his head.

"Hikaru-sama, look!" Ryudamon exclaimed.

Ryudamon raised a front leg forward and pointed at a quickly falling object. It was Nero.

"It's Nero!" Hikaru gasped. "Quickly, GinRyumon, catch him!"

GinRyumon didn't need to be told that, she quickly dived after Nero.

At the same time, Andrew and Ana were also plummeting towards the ground in another part of the forest. Kudamon was still perched upon Andrew's soldier. Guilmon digivolved into Growlmon and landed safely on the ground, though his landing caused a small rumbling from his weight. He held out his arms and caught both his partner and Hikaru and Kudamon.

"Phew, that was close!" Ana said, taking deep breaths.

"Yeah, thanks Growlmon," Andrew stated.

Meanwhile, Aimi and Alex were also falling from the sky with their partners. Like the other Digimon, Agumon and Veemon digivolved as well, becoming their Champion-level forms of Greymon and Veemon. The two Digimon caught their partners.

The figure of Dorumon became noticeable as he fell to the ground below nearby. He skid against the ground and he collided with it, leaving a shallow ditch behind him.

"That was Dorumon!" Alex gasped, hopping off of Veedramon's hands and running to him.

Veedramon grumbled to himself as he followed behind his partner. At Aimi's request, Greymon followed. They arrived at his side in time to see him slowly stand up. Alex approached him and helped wiped the dirt off him.

"Dorumon, are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Dorumon answered, shaking himself off. Dorumon looked around at the scenery and saw that Nero was missing. He instantly went into a panic and began running around frantically looking for him. "Lord Yggdrasil! Lord Yggdrasil! Where are you, Lord Ygdrasil?!"

"Dorumon, calm down!" said Alex as she attempted to make him relax.

"We have to find him!" Dorumon exclaimed, not calming down in the least.

Knowing that there was no other choice, Alex took out her Digivice and tried to locate the others. They were all fairly spread apart judging by how far the signals were. Aimi and Greymon both observed them.

"I can't even tell which signal is his?" Alex sighed.

Dorumon approached Alex and glanced at the Digivice. After examining it for no more than a couple seconds, he pointed at the two signals farthest away.

"He's here!" Dorumon announced.

Alex looked up at Dorumon, unsure how he knew which belonged to Nero.

"And how do you know that?" Veedramon mumbled just loud enough for Dorumon to hear.

"The bond between me and Lord Yggdrasil is as strong can be!" Dorumon growled. "If your partner was missing, I bet you could find her!"

Veedramon heaved a defeated sigh. There was no doubt in his mind that the connection between himself and Alex was nearly identical to the one between Nero and Dorumon.

"How endearing!" Astamon's voice echoed throughout the area.

While Alex, Aimi, and their partners looked back and forth for the source of the voice, Dorumon looked up a nearby tree. Sure enough, there was a lone figure atop it, and although it couldn't be made out clearly, Dorumon was positive that it was Astamon. Greymon and Veedramon looked up after noticing Dorumon.

"Just who I was hoping to find!" Astamon cackled.

Dorumon prepared to launch an attack, but Veedramon steeped between the two. Though his facial expression suggested that he didn't want Dorumon to show him up, in reality he knew that Dorumon couldn't digivolve without Nero around.

"I'll be your opponent!"he declared.

"Sorry, but I have no interest in fighting a weakling like you," Astamon replied.

"Then get interested!" Veedramon roared. "V-Nova Blast!"

Veedramon fired a V-shaped heat beam at the top of the tree. Astamon leapt into the air and avoided the attack, landing on the ground in front of the group.

"It appears that I will have to dispose of you before I can take care of Dorumon," Astamon stated, holding his knife in front of his face.

Meanwhile, Andrew and Ana, along with their Digimon partners, were currently on the run from a pink weasel-like Digimon with long blue hair and blades on its arms. It had red markings all over its body, and a blue four-point star on its forehead. The Digimon was known as Kyukimon.

Ana took out her Digimon and began flipping through the menu.

"Data Analyzer, open! Code: Kubochi no Miko 1907388" she said as loudly as quickly an clearly as she could.

The information on Kyukimon appeared on the screen shortly after she opened the analyzer.

"Kyukimon, an Ultimate-level Bewitching Beast-type Digimon of the Virus attribute," she read aloud. "Her attacks are Blade Twister and Sanrensei!"

"An Ultimate-level Digimon?" Kudamon wondered, jumping off of Andrew's shoulder and digivolving into Reppamon. "This isn't going to be easy!"

Like the others, Hikaru and Nero were having problems of their own. A black bird-like Digimon sporting purple armor stood before them. Red bandages were wrapped around its arms, and wore a purple helmet that covered its eye s and part of its beak. It also wore a gray cloth around some white pants.

"I, Karantenmon, have come to defeat you!" the Digimon stated, pointing a yellow blade he wielded at GinRyumon.

"Stating your own name?" GinRyumon responded. "That's rather noble of you! I am GinRyumon, and I accepted your challenge!"

Nero looked up the information for Karatenmon on his Digivice.

"Here we are!" Nero reported. "Karatenmon is an Ultimate-level Wizard-type Digimon of the Virus attribute. His Enlightenment attack can allow him to read the mind of his opponent."

"GinRyumon, are you sure you're up to this?" Hikaru asked his partner.

"Do not worry, I'll be fine!" GinRyumon assured. "This Digimon challenged me to a noble duel! Even if he is infected by the virus, I trust he would not do something so cowardly as to get the two of you involved!"

"Although I do seek to capture, Lord Yggdrasil, I will keep those two out of it," Karatenmon responded. "Well then, GinRyumon, let us begin!"

As the two of them prepared to begin their battle, Astamon had easily defeated Veedramon as he lay on the ground in an injured state.

"Can't say that was much of a challenge," Astamon sighed in a disappointed tone.

"This…isn't…over!" Veedramon growled, struggling to get to his feet.

"You just won't learn, will you?" Astamon spat.

"Veedramon, that's enough!" Alex cried out. "Let Dorumon handle him, you're no match!"

Dorumon growled at Astamon but didn't attack. Sadly, he knew he couldn't take on Astamon without Nero. Greymon wanted to help, but he also knew that Veedramon wanted to handle it on his own.

"I…can…handle…it!" Veedramon declared, turning to face Alex. "Trust me!"

Alex saw the look in her partner's and saw fiery determination. She knew she couldn't stop him, all she could do is believe in him.

"Then…" she replied with a bit of hesitation. After thinking for a brief second, she sent a smile back. "You better not lose!"

"I won't!" Veedramon promised.

Alex's Digivice began to glow. She held it out and could feel it vibrating a little bit. The Digivice shot a beam of light at Veedramon, striking him.


	17. Chapter 16: The Forest of Ultimates!

**Chapter 16: The Forest of ****Ultima****tes****! Qilinmon**** Lights the Way**

The light continued to engulf Veedramon, causing his form to change as he was given the power to digivolve to the next stage.

"Veedramon digivolve to…" he said as large red wings sprouted from his back, looking a bit torn as if they were the subject of multiple attacks. His horns on the back of his head grew even longer and were now a grayish color. His legs had taken a white color as his nails grew sharper and more muscular. His claws were sharper as well, and he now sported metal bladed shoulder pads. "AeroVeedramon!"

Alex watched in awe as her partner digivolved into his Ultimate stage. Astamon didn't seem too impressed, ignorant to the power this new form of Veemon actually had.

"So, you digivolved?" Astamon cackled with an even grin. "Maybe now you'll be more of a challenge!"

Astamon charged at AeroVeedramon with his knife in hand, slashing at the Digimon. AeroVeedramon made no effort to dodge the attack. After his attack made contact with AeroVeedramon, Astamon landed safely on the ground behind him. AeroVeedramon had not a scratch on him, while Astamon nearly dropped his knife as a rip in his right sleeve and a small wound with a bit of blood appeared. AeroVeedramon had countered the attack with a blade sticking out of his right wrist. There was a blade on his left wrist as well.

Astamon showed signs of anger as he spun his body around and pointed his rifle towards AeroVeedramon's back.

"Take this!" he roared. "Hellfire!"

Astamon held the rifle with his left hand, keeping it under his arm for leverage, and pulled the trigger, unleashing a powerful shot of bullets in AeroVeedramon's direction. AeroVeedramon extended both his wings and gave a mighty flap towards the ground, propelling himself upward and avoiding the attack.

AeroVeedramon hovered in the air and glared down at Astamon with ferocious green eyes.

"V-Nova Blast!" he shouted, firing a V-shaped heat beam at Astamon.

Astamon jumped backwards and managed to avoid the attack, the ground in front of him scorched. The two Digimon made eye contact with each other, both grinning at the challenge the other offered.

As the two continued their battle, Karatenmon and GinRyumon were getting their fight underway. Karatenmon leaped into the air, his wings glowing brightly as GinRyumon pursued.

"Ballistic Feathers!" he yelled, shooting feathers from his glowing wings.

GinRyumon curled herself into a ball to block the oncoming attack, the feathers beating heavily on GinRyumon's armor. Despite how fast and strong the attack was, GinRyumon's armor protected her and she uncurled herself.

"Armor Piercing Blade!" she exclaimed, shooing an iron spear from her mouth at Karatenmon.

Karatenmon raised his swords in front of him to block the attack, parrying it and redirecting it away. Karatenmon began using his Enlightenment attack to try and read GinRyumon's mind, but could sense nothing but the pure desire to protect the humans. It was clear that they were her only weakness, but he wouldn't resort to targeting them.

"She's a true warrior!" he thought. "She doesn't even need to think about what she's going to do next, and she's not reckless. Still, she's only a Champion-level Digimon, so she's no match for me!"

GinRyumon swung her tail at the opposing Digimon once she was close enough, though Karatenmon easily avoided it by ducking.

"Crow Swords!" Karatenmon shouted, placing his swords in a "V" position and firing a laser from them at GinRyumon's underside.

The attack hit GinRyumon, hurling her backwards into a tree.

"GinRyumon!" Hikaru cried out.

GinRyumon heard him and rose to her feet, hovering in the air again. She assured Hikaru that she was fine and capable of continuing, though a crack in her armor and a small trickle of blood suggested otherwise.

"He's much stronger than I had anticipated! I'll have to be careful!" she told herself.

"Impressive!" thought Karatenmon. "She avoided the full force of the attack."

Nero could tell that, strong as GinRyumon was, Karatenmon was stronger. Even he had doubts if she could handle hi, on your own while still at the Champion level. Still, strength wasn't everything, so he wouldn't count her down just yet.

Ana and Andrew were also having difficulty against their opponent. Kyukimon was quite persistent and never let up on attacks, rarely giving Growlmon and Reppamon a chance to react. Reppamon was fast enough to land a few attacks, but due to his lack of power, he didn't do much damage. Growlmon was unable to land a strike against the weasel-like Digimon, being too slow compared to Reppamon and Kyukimon.

"How are we going to defeat her?" Reppamon pondered, leaping into the air to avoiding a rapidly spinning Kyukimon.

Reppamon landed on Growlmon's back as Kyukimon finally stopped spinning. The Digimon grinned evilly as she eyed the two Digimon, and then the two humans alone.

"Oh no!" Reppamon gasped. "How could I not have realized that?!"

"Blade Twister!" the evil Digimon cackled in a bewitching voice, starting to spin again, this time in the direction of the humans.

"Ana!" Growlmon cried.

"Quickly, Growlmon! We don't have any time to waste!" Reppamon shouted, holding his tail out in front of Growlmon.

Growlmon didn't need to be told what to do; he instantly figured it out. Growlmon grabbed Reppamon by the tail and threw him as hard as possible, causing him to go into a forward roll as he tried to intercept the attack.

Andrew, knowing that Kyukimon was too precise to miss if they ran, pushed Ana out of the way and braced himself for impact, holding his arms out in front of him and closing his eyes. His eyes opened when he heard the sound of blades clashing, seeing that Reppamon had successfully blocked the blow with his tail. Even though Reppamon stopped one of the blades, Kyukimon slashed him across the chest, leaving him with a deep and gushing wound. Reppamon fell to the ground in an injured state, his body twitching in pain.

"Reppamon!" Andrew called, rushing over to his side.

Kyukimon examined her work and began laughing maniacally when she heard someone shout "Pyro Blaster!" Kyukimon jumped into a nearby tree, narrowly avoiding a plasma fireball attack from Growlmon. She saw Growlmon leap into the air after her, using his Dragon Slash attack to destroy the branch she was standing on. Growlmon's eyes showed signs of extreme anger.

"You'll pay for that!" he growled.

While Growlmon continued to recklessly charge at Kyukimon, Ana approached Andrew.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," Andrew answered, on his knees by his partner's side.

Ana looked at the two and then returned her attention to the occurring fight. It was clear that Kyukimon was toying with Growlmon; she wanted him to expel all of his energy.

"Growlmon!" Ana shouted, instinctively holding out her Digivice. "Make her pay!"

"You got it!" responded Growlmon.

Ana's Digivice began to glow, shooting a beam of light at Growlmon and causing his body to undergo a change.

"Growlmon digivolve to…" he said as his neck and head became more metallic, sporting a metal mask that resembled Growlmon's head. He now wore a very bulky red and white armor around his chest, a hazard symbol on his chest as well as two small cannons. He had two slender engines on his back, and his arms and fingers were covered with metal, two axe-like blades extending from each arm. "WarGrowlmon!"

Even though WarGrowlmon was an Ultimate-level Digimon, Kyukimon didn't seem worried. As if by some weird twist of fate, the fog in forest grew thicker than ever, making it impossible to see.

"Just great!" groaned WarGrowlmon.

They weren't the only ones affected by the fog, the other groups were suffering from the effects as well.

GinRyumon was doing fairly well against Karatenmon, despite their difference in level and power. However, the moment the thick fog set in, the differences in ability became apparent.

"What's with the fog?" Hikaru wondered.

"Don't be so surprised, this is the Forest of Confusion," Nero answered. "The fog was programmed to become lighter or heavier at random times, providing a true challenge for players. To make things even more of a challenge, the wild Digimon of the forest were programmed with the ability to sense when it would change and to adapt to it. However, if I would have known something like this could happen, I would've never programmed this to happen!"

GinRyumon was completely helpless in the thick fog, blind and unable to see her opponent. Karatenmon was blessed with not having such a disadvantage. Though it was true that he couldn't see either, with his Enlightenment ability, he could tell where GinRyumon was. It did not matter if she didn't think about her movements; the slightest thought gave away her location.

"Found you," he said, charging blindly in one direction with his swords positioned across his chest.

He slammed his body into GinRyumon, knocking her backwards into a tree.

"Ballistic Feathers!" Karatenmon yelled, shooting feather from wings which had begun to glow again.

The feathers made contact with GinRyumon's body, a few hitting her wound from earlier and causing her to cry out in pain.

Hikaru heard the cries of his partern and couldn't take it anymore. His Digivice began to glow as he held it in his hand, clenching it so tightly that it felt like it could give way at any second and break.

"GinRyumon!" he cried, his Digivice shooting a beam of light at the injured GinRyumon and engulfing her.

"GinRyumon digivolve to…" she shouted as her form began changing and she increased in size. Her body became longer and more slender, taking on the appearance of a dragon. Her belly was lined with red scales, while her back was covered in black scales. Though her sides were covered in black scales as well, several silver scales were present too. She had two sets of small golden wings on her back, and gold design whiskers and samurai helmet-like horns on her dragon-like head. "HisyaRumon!"

HisyaRumon ascended to the sky, clenching a green and orange orb in each of her claws. She glared in the direction of Karatenmon, unable to see him, just knowing that he was there. Hikaru watched in awe as his partner digivolved to her Ultimate stage and took to the sky.

Karatenmon was unfazed by HisyaRumon's appearance, mainly because he couldn't see her, and used his Enlightenment ability once again to locate her. He charged once again with his swords across his chest. However, this time his swords clashed against what sounded like a blade. Karatenmon was pushed by backwards by the overwhelming force and stopped to try and observe what had happened. He noticed that HisyaRumon had formed into a blade to counter his attacks.

AeroVeedramon's battle against Astamon had been affected by the fog as well. He threw Astamon down to the ground, ready to finish off the evil Digimon with his V-Nova Blast technique. Unfortunately, the fog had settled in at about this time, making AeroVeedramon unable to see his opponent. Astamon seemed unaffected by the fog and smiled with an evil grin, his life saved.

"This guy's much more of a challenge that I had originally thought!" Astamon said to himself. "I was fortunate to have the fog roll in like this when it did. I should be able to defeat him now with little difficulty. But, even though Dorumon's not much of a threat at the moment, should that other one digivolve too, things could become very serious." Astamon turned his attention to Greymon, whom was still holding Aimi. "Better take care of them first!"

Dorumon had an uneasy feeling about the fog, aware that Astamon had a distinct advantage. He expected Astamon to target him first, knowing how much the virus feared him. He began charging up for his DAV Beam attack, not to fir a shot, but rather to provide a small bit of light. He looked back and forth, left and right, but saw no enemy Digimon coming at him. Suddenly, he saw an object moving; it was Astamon. However, Astamon wasn't coming at him, and he knew AeroVeedramon wasn't in that direction. Alex was standing behind, so it couldn't have been her. His eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

"Aimi! Greymon!" Dorumon screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

Everyone heard Dorumon's warning, causing Greymon and Aimi to look forward. They saw him charging at them with his knife in hand. Aimi closed her eyes and ducked into Greymon's hands while Greymon did his best cover her, leaving his chest completely exposed.

The sudden danger caused Aimi's Digivice to begin glowing, encasing the two of them in an orb of light.

"Greymon digivolve to…" Greymon shouted as his form began changing. His helmet changed a gray metal one, and long orange hair now flowed from the back. His left arm became machine-lie, now metal with the end like a trident. Twin missile launchers were placed on his chest, covered with thick metal plates. Purple, worn fairy-like wings sprouted from his back as he shouted out the name of his new form. "MetalGreymon!"

MetalGreymon shielded Aimi his left arm while holding her in his right. Astamon's knife struck the metal plates on his chest. The area above Astamon's eyes began twitching, annoyed that Greymon was able to digivolve at the last moment.

As WarGrowlmon braced himself while Kyukimon assaulted him with constant blows from her Blade Twister attack, Reppamon slowly rose to his feet, blood dripping from his wound to the dirt below, staining it red.

"Reppamon, stay down!" Andrew told him. "You're hurt! You need to take it easy!"

"No… I can't," Reppamon replied, shaking his head and barely able to stand. "He…needs my…help!"

"But Reppamon!" Andrew responded in protest.

"Andrew…" Reppamon uttered, looking into his partner's eyes. "Trust me!"

Andrew stared at his partner's line-like eyes and closed his own, nodding his head. He hugged the fox-like Digimon tightly, not caring that blood was dripping onto his clothers.

"I trust you," he said in a low voice. "Please, just be careful!"

Andrew's Digivice began to glow as Reppamon licked his partner affectionately on his cheek. Reppamon's wound began slowly closing up as the light surrounded the two of them.

"Reppamon digivolve to…" he stated as his form changed completely. His fore and hind legs and paws became more horse-like, covered in black shoes with white fluffy clouds of hair coming out from the ankles. Green dragon-scaled armor covered his backside while great feathery white wings sprouted from his shoulders. He had a green dragon-like head with a red sharp horn sticking out of his forehead. His golden tail split a various ends, almost making it look like he had multiple numbers of them. He whipped them around as he called out his Ultimate-level form's new name. "Qilinmon!"

Andrew looked up at his partner, amazed by his appearance. His arms were wrapped around his partner's neck, underneath his white brownish-orange-streaked hair. Qilinmon's wound had vanished, though the Digimon clearly wasn't feeling too much better than he had previously felt. Andrew let go off his partner as he rose into the air. Qilinmon's wings were spread widely as he began to emanate a strange aura.

"Hyper Radiance!" he exclaimed as he flapped his wings, the aura releasing a light that seemed to dissipate the fog.

The aura illuminated the entire area, allowing WarGrowmon to spot Kyukimon. Slashing his arms forward, he managed to stun Kyukimon long enough for him to charge up the cannons on his chest.

"Atomic Blaster!" he shouted, releasing two blasts of energy directly at the enemy Digimon, vaporizing her entirely and causing an egg to fall to the ground in her place.

The light reached HisyaRumon and Karatenmon, allowing Karatenmon to see HisyaRumon coming towards him after he was startled by the strange occurrence. She began wrapping her body around him.

"Every Direction Wheel!" she shouted as she fired multiple energy blasts from her mouth at him with each wrap.

Karatenmon eventually succumbed to the barrage of attacks, reverting to an egg within her grasp. She gently set the egg on the ground and gazed in the direction of the light, then turning to face Hikaru.

"Hikaru-sama!" she called, landing on the ground and motioning for Hikaru to get on.

"Right!" Hikaru replied, nodding his head and then motioning for Nero to follow.

As the light reached the last group, Astamon began to panic after being made visible. He slowly lifted his head upwards and looked directly into MetalGreymon's eyes. He laughed nervously as MetalGreymon whacked him away with his metal claw.

Astamon was flung towards AeroVeedramon, whom had his arm raised and ready to punch the oncoming Digimon.

"Time for you to go far away!" yelled AeroVeedramon, his fist glowing with energy. "Magnum Crusher!"

AeroVeedramon's strike sent Astamon hurling into the air towards Maze Castle, sending the helpless Digimon away from the group.

After determining that everyone was alright, the group decided to heads towards the light before it faded, AeroVeedramon holding Alex in his left hand and Dorumon in his right while MetalGreymon carried Aimi. Everyone arrived on the scene just as the light disappeared and the fog returned, though not quite as heavy. Qilinmon reverted to his Rookie form of Kudamon and fell to the ground, being caught his partner.

"You were great!" Andrew told his partner, holding him against his chest.

Dorumon was happy to reunite with Nero, hugging him tightly and nuzzling against him. The Digimon all returned to their Rookie forms and the group discussed all of the events that had taken place. After all was said and done, the group looked behind them in the direction of Maze Castle.

"Your next, Belphemon!" Nero declared as he held his fist towards to the sky, the others all gathered behind him.

Meanwhile, Belphemon was outraged as the badly beaten Astamon presented himself to the mighty Demon Lord.

"You failed!" he roared.

"I'm sorry, Lord Belphemon," Astamon coughed, apologizing for his screw-up. "I swear it won't happen again! I will get them next time!"

"There will be no next time!" Belphemon growled, causing Astamon to gulp and show signs of fear. "You incompetence has cost us gravely! However, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself, but only if you can defeat him!"

BlackGarurumon entered the room right on cue, grinning mischievously as he laughed at Astamon's failure.

"Is that all?" Astamon cackled, sighing with relief. "I may be injured, but even I can beat a lowly Champion!"

In that instant, BlackGarurumon lunged at Astamon with amazing speed and slashed him with his claws. Astamon gasped in disbelief and stumbled back, too injured to put up much of a fight. His fight with AeroVeedramon had caused him more bodily damage than he realized. BlackGarurumon opened his mouth and spewed blue icy flames at Astamon, killing him almost immediately. Astamon disappeared into data as BlackGarurumon turned to face Belphemon.

"I'm impressed," Belpemon complimented. "I honestly didn't think you'd be able to defeat him so easily, even in the state he was in. I guess you were right about him being a weakling. There's a first time for everything I suppose."

BlackGarurumon grumbled as Belphemon continued to speak, his words irritating him more than usual. He felt insulted by how weak Belphemon thought he was.

"Well, at least the experience I gained from that guy should be enough to help me digivolve to Ultimate," he thought, trying to ignore Belphemon.


	18. Chapter 17: Storm Maze Castle!

**Chapter 17: Storm Maz****e Castle! ****BlackGabumon**** Again**

Nero's group had set up camp somewhere in the middle of the Forest of Confusion. Despite the fact they had a small fire going, the fog surrounding the area was thick enough to the point where they couldn't be located by air. The smoke from the fire also blended in with the low clouds.

"Is it really such a good idea to be just sitting here so close to the castle?" Alex wondered.

"Don't worry about it," replied Nero as he continuously pet Dorumon, whom was curled up beside him. "I think Belphemon would be more concerned with barricading Maze Castle rather than come after us in the forest right now. We're going to have one hell of a time getting in there!"

"We can handle anything that comes our way!" Veemon boasted, flexing his right arm and grabbing it with his left hand.

"I'm sure you guys can," said Nero with a slight chuckle.

Nero stared off in the distance for a little while; he was unable to make out the figure of Maze Castle, but he knew it was there.

Nero looked down beside him after about an hour; Dorumon was asleep, his breathing causing his tail to momentarily wave in front of his face. Most of the others had fallen asleep already as well. The only reason Nero wasn't already asleep was because, although he was pretty sure Belphemon's forces wouldn't attack, there was always the possibility that a stray Digimon might happen upon them.

"Lord Yggdrasil!" Veemon called, getting his attention. "If you want, we can keep watch."

Nero saw Alex place her hand over her mouth and give a drawn-out yawn.

"Thanks, but you need some rest, Veemon," Nero replied. "We need all of you at full strength if we're oing to infiltrate the castle and defeat Belphemon."

"Then perhaps we should take watch!" Kudamon suggested, overhearing the two. "I've been sleeping this entire time, and it seems that you have things all planned out."

"Is that okay with you, Andrew?" Nero questioned.

"Sure, I'm fine with that," Andrew answered. "From the look of things, Alex is pretty tired too, and I don't know if Veemon would want to keep his partner up all night."

"Thanks," Alex said with faint chuckle, both relieved at not having to stay up all night, and slightly peeved that Andrew didn't think that she was capable of doing so.

"Well, if you're sure, then I guess that's fine," Nero sighed, lying down on his back and staring up at sky, though he couldn't see anything.

As Andrew and Kudamon kept watch, they lost complete track of time and began having conversations with each other. Andrew even went as far as to teach Kudamon how to play Rock-Paper-Scissors. As the fog finally began to let up, Andrew noticed rays of sun shining down on the forest. By the position of the sun, it was probably about 7 o'clock in the morning.

Everyone else woke up within the hour, and the group prepared a big breakfast so they would have plenty of strength. By about 10 in the morning, they had packed p and made their way to the front of the castle. They remained positioned behind some trees just outside the entrance, carefully surveying the area.

"There's no way we're going to be able to sneak inside!" Kudamon announced, yawning a bit after staying up all night. Despite the fact that he was tired, it didn't seem to affect his skills. "There are at least 15 Digimon surrounding the ground level of the castle, and at least five are positioned on the roof."

Nero held up his Digivice and saw that the Digimon were all ShadowToyAgumon and DarkTyrannomon. He remembered encountering a DarkTyrannomon earlier at the Village of Enlightenment. Nero was guessing there were at least 25 Digimon surrounding the castle at all ends, since it was impossible to see the back of the castle. He estimated that about 12 were ShadowToyAgumon, and the rest wee all DarkTyrannomon.

"Well, I never once said we were going to sneak in there," Nero said with a smirk. "The stronger enemies are more than likely inside the castle, so we should save our strength, and you guys should try not to digivolve unless necessary."

"Right!" all of the Digimon responded.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun!" Veemon cheered, taking a battle-ready position. "What do you think, Agu?"

"Sounds like it," Agumon replied.

"I can sum you two up in four words:" Ryudamon sighed, "gluttonous battle-hungry jokesters!"

"Lighten up, Ryudamon," Guilmon told her. "Can you honestly say you're not excited about the challenge?"

Ryudamon smiled at Guilmon's statement. All of the humans, with the exception of Nero, looked extremely nervous, but their Digimon partners continued to assure their protection.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Nero asked everyone, receiving a nod from each human and Digimon. "All right, let's do this! It's now or never!"

Everyone ran out of the trees, screaming loudly and charging towards the castle entrance. The opposing Digimon hesitated for a brief second; they were surprised that the group would just coming charging at them. They quickly gathered their thoughts and began spewing fire-based attacks at them.

Dorumon crouched down and charged straight through the blockade with amazing speed and power, the other Digimon bringing up the rear by attacking the virus-infected Digimon with their various techniques.

Dorumon made a quick skid into a stop, turning around at the same time. The gem atop his forehead was glowing brightly, and quickly gripping the dirt below him to make sure he didn't move from his spot.

"DAV Beam!" he shouted, unleashing a much larger version of his attack at the enemy Digimon.

Though Dorumon's attack was technically much weaker due to expanding the size and his current state, the Digimon had injured them just enough for Dorumon's attack to have enough of an effect to revert the corrupted Digimon to eggs. He had managed to take out eight of them in a single shot.

"Let's go!" Nero yelled, running up the stairs to the entrance, the old stones cracking underneath the weight and causing small pebbles to fall. "Forget about the rest, we have to keep moving!"

The others quickly followed, but not before Veemon beat up a couple ShadowToyAgumon first. The dark Digimon quickly followed, though all of them stupidly got stuck in the door due to too many trying to enter. Dorumon stood there waiting for them, everyone else standing directly behind him. Dorumon was charging up for another DAV attack. The enemy Digimon immediately panicked and tried to run, all of them hearing the words "DAV Beam" being shouted. Dorumon's anti-viral attack came from behind, striking the helpless Digimon and turning them all into eggs.

"Wow! That actually worked!" Hikaru gasped, amazed by the stupidity of the Digimon.

"Guess dinosaurs really were dumb," Aimi said in a low voice, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hey!" Agumon, Guilmon, and Veemon all whined.

Dorumon and Ryudamon were quite a bit less offended by the statement. Kudamon was the only one who wasn't affected at all by it.

"Heh, sorry," Aimi apologized, forgetting about the Digimon partners.

"There's no time to waste chatting!" Nero reminded everyone. "We have to keep going!"

Several footsteps could be heard coming from the rear. Upon turning around, the group saw about five different pathways.

"Well, which way?" questioned Ana.

"Second from the left!" Nero answered.

"Got it!" everyone shouted, following Nero and Dorumon down the dimly-lit corridor.

Unbeknownst to the gang, a lone Digimon that couldn't be made out due to the lack of decent lighting poked its head through the door, staring with big yellow eyes. It belonged to a player probably about 13-14 years of age. The player itself was a boy who watched the events unfold from his computer screen. Judging by the fact that the monitor was the only source of light, the boy probably lived in a part of the world where it was currently dark out.

"So the rumors are true, there really are players with human avatars!" the boy squealed with delight. "Nobody's ever seen them fight before though; this is incredible! I never imagined there were players with such strong Digimon! I've gotta find my video camera, and fast! If this kind of thing doesn't get me on the YouTube spotlight, I don't know what will!"

As the group continued down the halls of Maze Castle, they began to understand why Nero gave it the name. Every time they reached the end of one hall, there were anywhere from two to six different possible routes. Some led to stairs going up, while others led to stairs going down. The other humans were impressed that Nero could navigate it so well, even if he did create it. They were not the only ones in the halls, however. They were constantly fighting off swarm after swarm of ShadowToyAgumon.

"This is weird," thought Nero. "I thought for sure by now we'd be encountering stronger Digimon. Either we took a wrong turn somewhere, or he wants us to reach him!"

Veemon punched out the last ShadowToyAgumon as the group finally found themselves outside a large, old wooden set of doors. A couple torches illuminated the area.

"This is it!" Nero announced, using a bunch of his disks stored in his Digivice to restore some of the Digimon's energy. "Is everyone ready? There's no turning back once we enter through these doors!"

"We stayed with you this long," Alex retorted.

"Yeah, there's no way we ditch you now!" Hikaru added.

Aimi, Ana, and Andrew nodded there heads, as did the Digimon.

"All right, here we go!" Nero stated, placing his hands between the two doors and opening them.

The doors slowly creaked open as Nero pushed and the gang took their fist steps inside. Many more torches lit the large empty room. A small set of stairs was located on each side of the room, leading up to a small ledge on the north end of the room.

The Digimon all took battle-ready positions and growled deeply as they sensed an evil, yet familiar presence in the room. The humans all looked up to the ledge on the north end, spotting BlackGabumon just sitting there.

"Wow, the jerk was right for a change!" BlackGabumon cackled. "You guys really did come here first!"

"BlackGabumon," Nero groaned. "I should've guessed Belphemon wouldn't stay in this room when I realized that only those ShadowToyAgumon wer attacking us."

"Hey, it was a good assumption," BlackGabumon commented. "To be completely honest with you, you guys already wiped out all of that guy's strongest henchmen! None of my master's other followers can tolerate the guy!"

"It sounds to me like you're not too fond of him either," said Alex.

"That would be a severe understatement," BackGabumon admitted, jumping down from the ledge and landing in front of everyone. "The only reason I'm here is because my master ordered me to."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we don't have the time and energy to waste on you right now!" Nero sneered.

The doors immediately slammed shut behind the group, leaving them trapped inside with BlackGabumon. Nero gritted his teeth out of frustration as BlackGabumon took a few steps forward.

"Lord Yggdrasil, let me handle him!" Agumon exclaimed, stepping forward to face him. "He and I have a score to settle!"

"Not you, Agumon!" BlackGabumon responded. "The only one I want to fight is Dorumon! After our fight, regardless of the outcome, the rest of you can go."

"Why should he take you on alone when all of us are here?" Guilmon growled.

"It's all right," Dorumon said calmly, hunched over a bit as he stepped out in front of Agumon. "If he wants to take me alone, so be it."

"Dorumon, be careful! This guy's different from the others," Agumon warned.

Dorumon thanked Agumon for the tip and confronted BlackGabumon, whom seemed very excited about finally getting a chance to face Dorumon in a one-on-one battle.

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon shouted, firing multiple projectiles from his mouth at an amazing pace directly at BlackGabumon.

"Blue Blaster!" BlackGabumon yelled, countering Dorumon's attack with a constant stream of blue flames.

The two attacks collided with each other, causing a small explosion that resulted in a smokescreen. Dorumon emerged through the smoke at an amazing speed, slamming his body hard into the Digimon and sending him flying back into the wall behind him. The wall cracked a bit on impact, and BlackGabumon slid to the ground a few inches below him.

"I don't know how you got so strong, even after being infected by the virus," said Nero, "but so long as this is a battle of Rookies, you can't defeat Dorumon!"

"Really?" BlackGabumon spat, getting to his feet. BlackGabumon immediately grew in size, quickly digivolving to his Champion-level form of BlackGarurumon. "Then how about this?! Howling Blaster!"

BlackGarurumon spewed a blast of icy flames at Dorumon, but Dorumon jumped away to avoid the attack. Dorumon charged at him like before, but this time he was fast enough to avoid him. BlackGarurumon once shot a blast of icy flames at Dorumon, and Dorumon jumped into the air.

As Dorumon flapped his wings to gain a bit of altitude, Nero's Digivice began to glow. A small orb of light encased Dorumon, and he emerged as his Champion-level form of Dorugamon.

"Howling Blaster!" BlackGarurumon roared as he unleashed another blast of icy flames at Dorugamon.

"Power Metal!" shouted Dorugamon, firing a metal projectile from his mouth directly into the flames.

His attack tore through the flames and struck the Digimon, exploding on impact and injuring him. Doruamon did not let up on his attacks, circling around BlackGarurumon and bombarding him with multiple attacks. He finally stopped after a short while, not out of lack of energy, but due to having a strange feeling.

"Something's wrong!" he thought. "He should've tried to escape by now, and I know he's still alive!"

The smoke from Dorumon's barrage of attacks finally lifted, and everyone gasped in disbelief. Not only was BlackGarurumon unharmed, but he was different. He was smaller and now stood on his hind legs. His front paws had become more like hands with spiked brass knuckles equipped. His left arm was taped in brown cloth with a brown shoulder plate attached. He wore green pants with a death skull symbol on his left legs held, as well as knee guards with the right one spiked. His right foot had white bandages around the middle, and his shoulder plate was strapped on with a brown strap that ran across his chest and back.

Nero held out his Digivice, identifying the Digimon.

"ShadowWereGarurumon, an Ultimate-level Animal-type Digimon of the virus attribute," he read aloud. "BlackGarurumon must've digivolved during Dorugamon's assault!"

ShadowWereGarurumon lunged into the air with incredible speed, trying to punch Dorugamon. Dorugamon caught the fists, but he was brought down to the ground by it. ShadowWereGarurumon continued to push, his strength equal to that of Dorugamon. Their faces grimaced as they pushed each other back.

"Full Moon Kick!" ShadowWereGarurumon exclaimed, kicking Dorugamon's exposed stomach area.

Dorugamon let go as he was kicked, leaning over in pain. ShadowWereGarurumon smirked and punched him in the face, flinging him back in the wall. Blood trickled from Dorugamon's lip as he struggled to get up.

"That…was…dirty…" he stammered.

"Dorugamon!" Nero called.

Nero's Digivice started glowing again as he called out to his partner. Dorugamon digivolved into DoruGreymon and began hovering in the air, his wings creating gusts of winds that forced ShadowWereGarurumon to shield himself.

"Metal Meteor!" the dragon shouted, firing a giant iron ball at the wolf-like Digimon.

ShadowWereGarurumon leaped into the air and punched the massive ball, managing to destroy it, but not without bloodying up his right hand in the process.

"Whoa!" everyone gasped.

"No way!" Nero exclaimed in disbelief.

ShadowWereGarurumon was panting heavily, but he covered it with a faint smile, thinking he had DoruGreymon beat. DoruGreymon swooped down from above, slashing at him with his claws and horn. His quick attack caught ShadowWereGarurumon off-guard, forcing him into submission as he collapsed to the ground. He cringed in pain as he reverted to his Rookie stage.

"Now it's time to purify you once and for all!" DoruGreymon roared, landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"D-Do you…really think…you can beat him?" BlackGabumon stuttered as he wrapped his arms around his chest. "Belphemon…I mean."

"There's no doubt in my mind that we'll defeat him!" Nero answered boastfully. "I know his weakness!"

BlackGabumon's eyes widened a bit as he heard Nero's words. Though he was still in pain, he raised his right arm and pointed to the large door from before; it slowly creaked its way open.

"D-Don't go left…then down the third passage on the left… then the second on the right and up the stairs," he warned. "You'll…never…defeat…him!"

The group looked at him in surprise as he told the group exactly where Belphemon was located. The look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't lying. As DoruGreymon finished charging up his DAV attack, BlackGabumon quickly fired an attack towards the ceiling. It began to crumble and part of it collapsed, blocking him off from the group.

Nero realized that wasting any more energy by trying to go after him was pointless for the time being. He would probably come after them again in the future, and they could purify him then. DoruGreymon became Dorumon again and began panting heavily, having wasted more energy than he thought fighting BlackGabumon. He winced in pain as he grabbed his side, his injury having yet to heal. Nero used that last of his stored disks to heal Dorumon.

"That's the last disk!" Nero informed the group. "We'd best be careful not to waste anymore of our strength!"


	19. Chapter 18: Belphemon's Counterattack

**Chapter 18: Failed Pla****n! ****Belphemon's**** Counterattack**

As Nero and the others made their way through the castle, they discovered that no Digimon had come to oppose them.

"I feel a bit insulted," Ryudamon stated. "Did he underestimate us so much that he didn't plan any backup security should BlackGabumon have failed?"

"I doubt that's the case," replied Hikaru. "BlackGabumon said he was the strongest Belphemon had left, didn't he?"

"He may have just been blowing some hot air!" Veemon said.

"Regardless, Belphemon probably knows that it'd be pointless to send more if we got this far," Alex guessed.

"That's exactly what I was thinking I believe he's waiting for us!" Nero exclaimed, looking at the others. "You guys can still turn back if you want."

"We already gave you our answer," Andrew reminded him, resulting in everyone nodding their heads.

"All right, this is it!" Nero shouted. "For real this time!"

The group followed BlackGabumon's directions perfectly, feeling that they could trust him, and surely enough found themselves outside a large set of doors like the one outside the room BlackGabumon was in. As they stood outside the doors, Nero placed his hand on the outside of his pocket, hoping that nothing happened to ruin the plan.

As Nero reached for the doors to open them, they suddenly began to open on their own.

"It would appear that he wants us to enter," Veemon observed, grinning at the challenge the next battle presented, but shaking nervously at the same time.

"Then let's not keep him waiting," Dorumon stated, the look in his eyes becoming an angry glare.

Nero could tell that his partner wanted revenge for what had happened the last time they met. Though Nero had not witnessed the previous battle, Belphemon had caused Dorumon so serious an injury that Nero was forced to travel to the Digital World to save him.

Nero looked at the rest of the group and everyone took a deep breath as they passed through the doors leading to their toughest opponent thus far.

"And cue the mysterious closing of the rickety old doors," Veemon chuckled while snapping his fingers, the doors closing behind them soon after.

"And then the flames light up the dark and creepy room," Agumon added, giggling a little as the unlit torches suddenly became little with yellowish-orange flames.

"This is not the time to be cracking jokes!" Ryudamon grumbled.

"Why? I thought they were pretty good," an evil voice bellowed.

The Digimon all growled and the humans gaped as they focused their attention on a solitary figure atop a long balcony in the room's north end.

The chamber was much larger than the one they fought BlackGabumon in. Nero remembered creating it to fool players into thinking it was the area the boss was located in, but that was before Belphemon showed up. The room itself was filled with small tables and chairs, sort of like a castle dungeon for captives that were treated as if they weren't criminals. The balcony stretched across the entire length of the room, more like a bridge if anything. It even had doors to lead to other rooms, through they were dead-ends as far as Nero remembered. Players, who didn't know any better, might mistake them for secret treasure rooms, though they were completely void of any such things. Reaching the balcony-like bridge was impossible by foot, as there were no stairs leading up to it. Nero took notice a long unrecognizable picture in the background, the dimness of the light making it impossible to make out. However, on the wall below, Nero noticed that there was a new picture there, a map of the Digital World to be precise.

The large Digimon jumped down from the balcony, creating a large crashing sound as the floor stones dislodged from the ground and scattered everywhere. Belphemon's massive form was now fully visible.

"See?" whispered Veemon to Ryudamon. "Even the bad guy thinks we're funny."

Ryudamon ignored the comment as Belphemon glanced upon the entire group.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Lord Yggdrasil," Belphemon cackled as he eyed Nero. "And Dorumon, it's been awhile since I last saw you. By the look of things, you're not as weak as you were back then."

"I wast my first time fighting," Dorumon retorted, smirking without changing the look in his eyes. "What'd you expect would happen when you pitted an lack-of-experience Rookie against a Mega-level Digimon?"

"Even without experience, you not only did not succumb to my master's power, but you also did not die," Belphemon replied, seemingly complimenting Dorumon. "Obviously I underestimated you. My master knows you'd be a valuable asset, though that little anti-virus program of yours is quite the nuisance. My orders were simple: Capture Yggdrasil unharmed, and you too if possible. Though, should I be unable to apprehend you, I have to dispose of you as well your other little friends."

Belphemon let out an evil laugh as the Digimon stepped in front of their partners, bracing themselves for an attack. Aimi cowered behind Agumon, never having been so scared before.

"You could NEVER apprehend me!" Dorumon roared. "I obey Lord Yggdrasil and nobody else! And if you, your so-called master, or any one of you fiends lay even one grimy little claw on him, I'll kill you and all who wish him harm where you stand!"

Even though Belphemon was a Mega-level Digimon, even he was the slightest bit intimidated by Dorumon. Nero was a bit surprised, having never seen Dorumon act so fiercely. However, the others, having seen Dorumon's ferocity during the fight against the BlackGatomon, knew it was no mere bluff. Dorumon was not a Digimon to anger, especially when it came to Nero.

"Pretty big talk for such a little guy; let's see if you can back it up," Belpemon said in an evil tone as he took a few large steps forward.

"Let's go, Dorumon!" Nero shouted, raising his Digivice into the air.

The others didn't need any signal, instantly following Nero and raising their Digivices towards the ceiling. The Digimon all quickly began to digivolve, first to their Champion forms, and then into their Ultimate stages.

Unbeknownst to anyone, BlackGabumon was secretly watching the events from around the hall corner atop the balcony. How he got up there without anyone knowing was anyone's guess, but the lack of decent lighting made it nearly impossible to see him. Based on the way he was holding himself with his right arm, it seemed that he was still suffering from the injuries caused by his battle with Dorumon.

"If you think you can truly beat him, then show me!" he thought.

"Psst! Listen, guys," Nero whispered to everyone as Belphemon stood still to examine the group of Ultimate-level Digimon. Nero reached into his pocket and pulled out his trump card. "Have the Digimon distract Belphemon long enough until for me to pull this off! Also, Alex, I'm going to need AeroVeedramon's help for this."

"Um, sure," Alex replied, curious as to what Nero was planning. "Is that all right with you, AeroVeedramon?"

"No problem!" the Digimon answered, able to hear the two talking due to being in the back of the group.

Nero had decided that AeroVeedramon was the best choice, since he usually charged right into a battle without any sort of plan and wouldn't be expected to be hiding anything.

Belphemon, seeing the group as no serious threat, began charging up an attack is his mouth.

"Let's see how powerful you really are!" Belphemon roared. "Take this, Gift of Darkness!"

Belphemon unleashed a powerful attack at the Digimon, causing them to quickly grab their partners and scatter. After setting them down safely, they returned their attention to Belphemon. Although Belphemon's attack had caused a huge explosion, it barely damaged the floor and walls. Nero had done a good programming the game so the castle walls could withstand attacks that weren't directly aimed at them.

"Metal Meteor!" DoruGreymon shouted, rising into the air and firing a large iron ball at the evil Digimon.

Though the attack was a direct hit on Belphemon, the meteor shattered and left him with apparently no damage.

"Th-That didn't even f-faze him!" AeroVeedramon stuttered, now understanding how dangerous Belphemon really was.

Belphemon laughed evilly as he scratched his chest with his claws, as if he had a minor itch.

"Was that it?" he cackled.

"Hardly!" DoruGreymon growled, the gem on his forehead glowing brightly. "DAV Charge!"

DoruGreymon released an electrical-energy blast from his horn directly at Belphemon. Belphemon gritted his teeth as he spotted the oncoming blast of energy, realizing immediately what it was. He quickly retaliated by firing another energy blast to counter it. The two attacks clashed and began pushing each other back with equal force.

"I can see why the master is afraid of him," BlackGabumon thought. "That thing's dangerous! He might actually be able to beat him!"

Belphemon was thinking the same thing as BlackGabumon, but he refused to think that DoruGreymon might actually be stronger than him. His attack was soon able to overcome DoruGreymon's, striking him in the chest and making him fall to the ground.

Qilinmon launched an attack on the distracted Belphemon, ramming his head into him. Belphemon noticed him at the last second and held the Digimon back with one hand, surprising Qilinmon, whom had not expected Belphemon to be fast enough to match his speed. Belphemon threw Qilinmon into a wall.

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon yelled, opening his chest plates and firing two missiles at Belphemon.

Belphemon swung his arms forward and grabbed the two missiles with his energy chains, hurling them back at MetalGreymon.

"Wind Guardian Wall!" AeroVeedramon exclaimed, flapping his wings rapidly to gather a flurry of winds that created a barrier in front of MetalGreymon. The barrier protected MetalGreymon and deflected the missiles into the castle walls. "Are you okay, Metal?"

"Yeah, thanks," MetalGreymon responded.

"Don't mention it," AeroVeedramon replied, looking in his right hand and eying the bag Nero had placed in it before they scattered. "I've got to close to him!"

Qilinmon, slowly getting to his feet, had overheard AeroVeedramon and had a good idea what Nero was up to. He observed HisyaRumon starting to try and wrap around Belphemon, and saw that WarGrowlmon was preparing to attack. In that instant he came up with a plan that could get AeroVeedramon closer.

"Andrew!" he called, alerting his partner to run over to him. "I've got a plan, but you have to tell the others this."

Qilinmon whispered the plan to Andrew, whom ran back to the other humans and told them what to do.

"Wait, WarGrowlmon!" shouted Ana. "Don't attack yet!"

Alex ran over to her partner to tell Aeroveedramon what he was to do as HisyaRumon was taken hold by Belphemon and thrown to the ground. DoruGreymon, still injured, came charging at Belphemon and began slashing at him with his claws. DoruGreymon managed to give Belphemon a red blood-trickling cut across the cheek before Belphemon jabbed his claws into DoruGreymon. DoruGreymon winced in pain as Belphemon withdrew his claws; resulting in a gaping wound in his side in the exact same spot ShadowWereGarurumon hit him earlier.

"No! DoruGreymon!!!" Nero cried out, not expecting DoruGreymon to be this outclassed in strength.

Meanwhile, AeroVeedramon stood directly in front of WarGrowlmon as Qilinmon had directed.

"This doesn't seem safe," AeroVeedramon said nervously.

"Hey, Qilinmon wouldn't have told us to do this if he thought that your life was in danger," WarGrowlmon told him.

Qilinmon saw that Belphemon was clearly more concerned about DoruGreymon than the others and continued to observe his movements carefully. DoruGreymon was currently on the ground before him, struggling to get up. Belphemon grinned evilly as he took massive steps towards Nero's partner.

"Now!" thought Qilinmon, using his amazing speed to get in-between the two Digimon. Belphemon stopped moving and prepared to swing his chains upward to grab hold of him, but Qilinmon began releasing a blinding aura in front of him. "Hyper Radiance!"

Belphemon was forced to cover his eyes with one arm as he stumbled back a little bit. AeroVeedramon immediately began flapping his wings to create another wind barrier, this time a much thinner one, between himself and WarGrowlmon.

"Atomic Blaster!" WarGrowlmon yelled, releasing two blasts of energy at AeroVeedramon.

The attack made contact with the barrier and propelled AeroVeedramon in Belphemon's direction. While being pushed in the direction, AeroVeedramon turned around and used wings to glide. He held the bag firmly in his right hand as he got closer.

BlackGabumon watched with great interest when his attention was drawn elsewhere by the sound of footsteps. He looked across the balcony and noticed a ShadowToyAgumon standing there. The Digimon had failed to notice him, his eyes focused on the events below.

Belphemon lifted his arm as his big red eyes adjusted to light, only to see AeroVeedramon coming directly at him. With his claws, AeroVeedramon cut a small hole in the sack.

"Say goodnight!" he exclaimed, flinging the bag at Belphemon's face.

Nero cheered loudly as it appeared that AeroVeedramon had succeeded and Belphemon stood in place helplessly. However, just before the bag made contact, the ShadowToyAgumon leaped from the ledge and intercepted the bag. He could've incinerated it with his flame, but that would've cause the gas released by the petal to explode and release it on a much larger scale. The ShadowToyAgumon managed to move a few feet away before succumbing to the fumes and passing out.

Nero cursed loudly as Belphemon laughed maniacally.

"You fools actually thought you could defeat me with a trick like that?!" he cackled. "I knew that you, Lord Yggdrasil, would figure out my weakness in no time! So, I secretly had an agent remain in Ikebana Town, knowing that you would head there. Yes, you could've found one of those accursed flutes, but I found that to be unlikely since I've collected most, if not all of the flutes in this sector and hidden them somewhere in this castle!"

"He knew what I was going to do long before I even found about him!" Nero muttered. "I really was a fool!"

"Don't blame yourself, Nero," said Aimi.

"Yeah, none of us expected that something like this would happen," added Hikaru.

"But I'm responsible for all of your lives!" Nero exclaimed. "I should never have allowed the Digimon to take on a Digimon as strong as Belphemon at this level, at least not without finding the others first!"

"Don't worry!" DoruGreymon stated as he got to his feet, ignoring his injuries. "We'll beat him! One way or another, without or without that stuff, we'll beat him!"

"You're going to beat me?!" Belphemon chuckled. "My, you really are a stubborn one, aren't you? You actually think you can beat me, the Demon Lord Belphemon?!"

"We WILL defeat you!" DoruGreymon declared.

BlackGabumon, though ashamed to admit it, had to admire DoruGreymon and the other Digimon for their willingness to never give up in a situation he deemed hopeless. He sighed and ran across the balcony to the other room when nobody was looking, disappearing completely from view.

AeroVeedramon landed beside DoruGreymon, as did Qilinmon. HisyaRumon soon joined them, followed by WarGrowlmon and MetalGreymon.

"Perfect!" Belphemon snickered. "I can destroy all of you at once! Gift of Darkness!"

Belphemon unleashed another energy blast at the group, but the Digimon did not flinch. The humans called out to their Digimon partners, telling them to get out of the way, but they didn't respond. Positioned side by side, AeroVeedramon, DoruGreymon, and WarGrowlmon used their energy and projectile attacks to hold back Belphemon's attacks. The colliding attacks held firm, even in strength, and caused an explosion soon after.

After the resulting smoke cleared, MetalGreymon used his Metal Claw attacks to ram his metallic claw into Belphemon, while at the same time, HisyaRumon and Qilinmon rammed their bodies into him. Belphemon had been caught off-guard and knocked to his rear. He looked up to DoruGreymon and AeroVeedramon hovering above him, combining their Metal Meteor and V-Nova Blast attacks and aiming them at the evil Digimon. Their attacks landed a direct hit on Demon Lord, causing his body to create a small crater in the stone floor.

Belphemon was not hurt badly, but he definitely felt the impact of the attacks. When he regained his ability to see perfectly again, DoruGreymon came down on top him, pressing his weight against the evil Digimon and slashing his claws across his chest. Belphemon's eyes were filled with rage, unwilling to let these Ultimate-level Digimon get the better of him.

"Like I said before, we will defeat you!" DoruGreymon growled menacingly. "Your reign of terror ends today!"


	20. Chapter 19: Defeat Belphemon

**Chapter 19: Defeat Belphemon Through 1000 Years of Sleep**

Belphemon growled angrily as DoruGreymon dug his claws into his chest, the look in his eyes getting fiercer and fiercer with every passing second. With a mighty roar, he pushed the dragon Digimon off of him and got to his feet, DoruGreymon stumbling to regain his footing.

"You insolent fools!" Belphemon roared as he stood up, seemingly unfazed by the attack upon him. His chest dripped small droplets off blood from the wound DoruGreymon had inflicted, though it seemed like barely a scratch to the evil Digimon. "Did you honestly think that you could defeat me so easily?! You have no idea who you're messing with! I AM THE DEMON LORD BELPHEMON!!!"

Belphemon had completely lost it, unwilling to admit how truly strong the Digimon were. He had completely forgotten that he had been ordered to leave Nero unharmed as he gathered energy in his mouth.

"This is bad!" Nero exclaimed.

"AeroVeedramon!" DoruGreymon called, knowing that he would not be able to reach the humans in time.

AeroVeedramon did not need to be told what to do; he instantly nodded his head and flew over to the humans to protect them.

"GIFT OF DARKNESS!" yelled Belphemon as he unleashed the powerful energy blast directly at them.

"Wind Guardian Wall!" AeroVeedram shouted, creating a barrier of wind between himself, the humans, and the oncoming attack.

Although AeroVeedramon's attack was able to hold back the blast for a brief period of time and reduce the amount of damage it could inflict, Belphemon's attack tore through the barrier and struck AeroVeedramon, hurling him past the humans and into the wall in an unconscious state. No ssoner than he fell unconscious did he revert back to his Rookie form of Veemon.

"Veemon!" Alex cried, leaving the group to run over to her unmoving partner.

"You'll pay for that!" MetalGreymon growled, throwing his machine-like arm forward and causing the end to extend in Belphemon's direction. "Metal Claw!"

Belphemon was ready this time, catching the arm and gripping it tight.

"My turn!" he chuckled with an evil grin, tossing MetalGreymon over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground.

Belphemon slammed his large foot into MetalGreymon's stomach region, forcing the Digimon to gasp and cry out in pain. Aimi called out to her partner, telling him to get up and get away. MetalGreymon's chest plates opened up.

"Giga Blaster," he said weakly as two missiles emerged and hit Belphemon in the face.

Belphemon covered his eyes as the missiles exploded, howling in pain. MetalGreymon coughed a bit and smiled faintly, reverting back into Agumon.

Belphemon recovered from the impact of the attack and uncovered his face, revealing trails of blood along his snout, above his left eye, and just under his right eye. Small drops of blood had seeped into his left eye, causing it to twitch uncontrollably as it tried to drain the blood from it.

"Why you!" the Digimon cursed angrily, raising his right leg to stomp the helpless Agumon to his death. "It's time I rid myself of you insignificant pests once and for all!"

Belphemon brought down his leg hard, shattering the floor and sending stones and debris flying in every direction. Luckily for Agumon, Qilinmon had used his speed to rescue him just in time. The Rookie-level Digimon dangled from Qilinmon's mouth by the thin but strong flesh just below the back of his neck.

"Good work, Qilinmon!" Andrew complimented as the Digimon set Agumon down in front of the group.

The group heard "Gift of Darkness" being shouted and Qilinmon turned his head. He was hit with another energy blast shot by Belphemon and crashed into the wall, leaving a small indent mark as he slid down and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"That bastard!" Andrew exclaimed, forgetting that a child was within earshot. "Qilinmon didn't even get a chance to dodge!"

"You're wrong!" Nero replied, receiving a puzzled look from Andrew. "While it's the true that it was a cheap shot, Qilinmon could've easily avoided it."

"What?!" Andrew responded in an angry and confused tone. "If that's true, then why didn't he?!"

"Look carefully!" Nero snapped. "If he had dodged that blast, you would've been hit instead! And I hate to point out the obvious, but a human such as yourself would be lucky to even survive such an attack!"

Andrew looked back towards Qilinmon as he returned to his Rookie form of Kudamon, then at Nero, then at Belpemon, gritting his teeth in anger.

Belphemon was starting to relax and now as he slowly returned to the calm state he had when Nero and the others first arrived. He laughed evilly and loudly, getting quite cocky now that he had taken out three of the Digimon with little effort. However, therein lay his mistake, and HisyaRumon turned into a blade and struck him from behind, giving him a nasty wound. Belphemon quickly turned and swatted her away, only to be hit with a Metal Meteor/Atomic Blaster combination attack from behind.

The calmness Belphemon had regained vanished just as quickly as it had come, his yes once again filled with pure rage.

Meanwhile, BlackGabumon was inside the room he had entered previously, digging through random piles of junk like something important had been buried in them.

"If I know that jerk as well as I think I do, then he must have hidden them in here," he thought. "It makes perfect sense too; why else would he have made ShadowToyAgumon from earlier come out of this room? He was afraid that Lord Yggdrasil might slip by him and come in here looking for it."

DoruGreymon, HisyaRumon, and WarGrowlmon continued to attack Belphemon from different directions at different times. It was clear from the amount of damage they inflicted that they could never overpower him, but Belphemon was no longer thinking intelligently and was attacking in every direction he was hit from. At the rate they were going, there was a chance they could tire him out.

"I think it's working!" HisyaRumon stated as DoruGreymon struck Belphemon from the rear with a Metal Metoer attack.

"Don't get overconfident!" DouGreymon warned as Belpemon turned to face him, getting hit by WarGrowlmon's Atomic Blaster attack from the side and being knocked back a bit. "We can't let up for even a second!"

Belphemon was getting extremely tired from wasting his energy. The humans looked on in amazement, even Aimi, Ales and Andrew, who were all tending to their injured partners.

"They just might do it," Hikaru said in an unbelieving tone.

"I certainly hope so!" Nero replied in a worried voice. "Even Belphemon's surely picked up on what's going on by now. Any second now he's going to counterattack!"

Nero was right. Belphemon, having lost so much of his energy already, was brought down to one knee, succumbing to the attacks all three Digimon fired at him at the same time. Their attacks seemingly exploded on contact, creating a small cloud of smoke around the evil Digimon.

"Did they get him?" wondered Ana.

Belphemon let out a vengeful roar from within the smoke so loud that it felt like the group's eardrums were going to break.

"I'm guessing that's a no," Hikaru gulped.

"THAT'S IT!!!" Belphemon yelled at the top of his lungs. "I've had enough of you annoying pests!"

Belphemon's voice had created enough wind to blow the smoke away as he stood up and flexed his arms. His chains flew from his arms, striking all three of the Digimon and knocking them to the ground below. HisyaRumon was unable to hold her Ultimate-level form any longer and de-digivolved back into Ryudamon. She weakly lifted her head and attempted to stand before finally slipping into unconsciousness.

DoruGreymon and WarGrowlmon weakly stood up, now the only two Ultimate-level Digimon still able to fight.

"You stubborn fools just don't know when to stay down, do you?" Belphemon grumbled, much calmer now that he expelled his rage upon the Digimon.

Seeing that WarGrowlmon was closer, the evil Digimon expanded his wings and used them to lunge at WarGrowlmon, slashing at him with a set of energy claws. WarGrowlmon braced himself by holding his blades out over his head, keeping Belpemon's claws away from him. Unfortunately, this left him wide open as Belphemon jabbed the claws in his hand into WarGrowlmon's stomach region. WarGrowlmon screamed pain as Belphemon used his immense strength to lift him over his head with one hand and toss him aside.

WarGrowlmon was left with a massive gaping wound that was still present when he reverted to his Rookie-level form of Guilmon. Nero looked on helplessly as Belphemon set his big eerie red eyes on DoruGreymon, taking his time as he took unnecessarily large steps over as to show off his power and the fact that he had the upper hand.

Belphemon reached down and grabbed DoruGreymon's neck, making sure to dig claws as deeply as possible into his flesh without killing him.

"You've lost!" he cackled with a sinister grin, throwing him a rag doll to the hard floor. "Why don't you just give up already and make things easier on yourself?"

"N-Never!" DoruGreymon coughed as he struggled to stand. "I w-will protect L-Lord Yggdrasil!"

Belphemon sighed; he was annoyed that DoruGreymon would continue what he thought was a futile battle. He smiled wickedly as he ascended to the balcony above and entered the room that BlackGabumon had previously been in. It was a good thing BlackGabumon had run across the bridge earlier, or he would surely have been caught. While in the dark room lit by a single torch, Belphemon grabbed a small chest and left. He took no notice of a small hole in the wall that was probably made earlier by BlackGabumon to get in.

He confronted the group again, this time holding the olden wooden chest that looked like it was once used to hold treasure. Atop the chest was a small piece of paper reading "Seal".

BlackGabumon soon returned from the room he was in and resumed watching the battle. He was a bit surprised to see all of the Digimon as injured as they were. He noticed Belphemon approaching DoruGreymon.

"You're too dangerous," Belphemon said to DoruGreymon, whom was now back on his feet and ready to continue. "Defeating you wouldn't be enough to break you, and chances are you'd be just as deadly when you hatched as you are now. I'm not going to risk screwing up like last time! That's why I'm going to lock your egg inside of here, so you can't escape until my master finds a way to control you for good! You and Lord Yggdrasil are going to serve my master, one way or another!"

"That won't happen!" Dorureymon spat. "Metal Meteor!"

DoruGreymon unleashed another iron meteor at Belphemon, whom simply stepped aside and caused the attack to hit behind him. Something flew out from the small cloud of dust that resulted from impact of the attack hitting the wall; it was a stick-like object that landed in front of Nero.

Nero looked down curiously as the stick-like object rolled into his shoe.

"Huh? This is…" he said.

"What?!" Belphemon gasped, his eyes widening as dropped the chest. "Where did that come from?!"

Nero smirked as he grabbed it and placed it to his lips like a flute, unwilling to let this opportunity pass him by. Belphemon turned to try and escape, but could take more than a couple steps before the sound of flute his ears. Nero, despite not knowing how to actually play a flute, played a wondrous melody that he soothed DoruGreymon and caused Belphemon's eyes to grow weary. BlackGabumon could hear it too, but he didn't succumb to its tune.

"No… This cannot…be!" Belphemon uttered as he fell to his knees. "Master… I failed…"

Belphemon's body began to glow and suddenly changed into a much smaller figure. Every part of his body had shrunk in size, and although he was still big, he now resembled an admittedly cute sleeping Digimon. He hovered in the air, bound by chains that circled his body with a small clock on it. The clock was a timer with 1,000 little dots all lined up in a circle.

"Have a nice thousand-year sleep, Belphemon," Nero said as he took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, I'm going to ensure that you don't wake up even then."

Nero turned to face his partner, telling him that now was the time to strike, but that he still shouldn't get too close due to the possible danger.

"Right!" DoruGreymon replied, the gem on his forehead glowing again as he sent the energy to his horn. "DAV Charge!"

DoruGreymon unleashed an electrical charge at Belphemon, hitting him as he made no effort to dodge. Belphemon was engulfed by the anti-virus program, disappearing into a black egg as crashed into the ground.

A dark blue crest symbolizing the planet Mars appeared below the egg, shattering like glass. Back in the virus' chamber, the small dark figure opened its eyes as he saw one of seven crests on the floor around him shatter into nothingness.

"Belphemon failed," the virus muttered in an uncaring tone, as if he had been expecting it.

DoruGreymon returned to his Rookie-form of Dorumon as Nero approached the egg that contained Belphemon. Nero noticed a dark aura surrounding it.

"This Digimon was created as an evil Digimon even before the virus corrupted him," Nero said loud enough for everyone to hear. "His soul is still too dark for even the anti-virus program to cure."

Everyone watched as Nero lifted the egg and placed it inside the chest that Belphemon had planned on putting Dorumon's egg in after he was defeated.

"How ironic," Alex stated.

Nero closed the lid and made sure it was completely sealed.

"I don't know this chest was created, I certainly didn't make it," Nero admitted. "However, based on this seal, I assume that since a human closed it, only a human can break the seal. Isn't that why you weren't worried about me opening it had you succeeded, Belphemon? Rest assured that no human will ever open this thing so long as I'm around!"

Nero looked up towards the balcony as he wondered who gave him the flute to put Belphemon to sleep. He knew for a fact that somebody had to have helped them. BlackGabumon was no longer there, and Nero hadn't even taken him into consideration.

Meanwhile, BlackGabumon could be seen with his back turned away from Maze Castle, heading into the forest.

"If the master finds out what I did, I doubt he'll ever trust me again!" he thought. "Though based on the yelling I heard, I think he might have lost it in that fight. Yeah, that can be my excuse!"

BlackGabumon took one last look back at the castle and disappeared from view, wondering if he had done the right thing in helping his enemies. And even though he knew that what he did was considered traitorous, he couldn't help but smile, telling himself that he would be the one to defeat Dorumon.

As the group left the castle grounds, carrying their injured partners away, they came across a few ShadowToyAgumon left in the halls. Dorumon gave but one fierce glare and the Digimon ran in fear. They finally arrived at the entrance, Agumon, Ryudamon, and Veemon now well enough to walk on their own. Kudamon was barely awake as he remained positioned on Andrew's shoulder, and Ana was carrying an unconscious Guilmon on her back.

The group looked in the distance as the sun began to set over the area of Digital World. It had been a long day, and for the first time in a while, Nero felt that he could truly relax.


	21. Chapter 20: Trouble in the Real World!

**Chapter 20: Trouble in the Real World! The Disappearing Children**

It was already dark by the time Guilmon finally woke. He groaned as he sat up, feeling pain in his stomach area. He grabbed his head and looked at his belly, seeing a large circulation of blood-stained bandages over it. He looked up to see everyone else gathered around a lit fire. Looking down, Guilmon noticed that he was covered with Nero's jacket to help keep him warm.

"Guilmon, you're okay!" Ana cheered happily, running over to him after noticing he was awake.

"Ana?" Guilmon said as she hugged him.

"Glad to see you're awake," Nero stated, getting up and approaching the two. "Sorry about the bandages, but those were all we had left. Alex was smart enough to pick up some bandages back at Ikebana Town, though they were originally intended for us. You were hurt really badly."

Guilmon looked around at the others, who had few bandages.

"Did we win?" he asked.

"Yes, we won," Ana answered. "Now don't push yourself so much."

"I won't, Raeana," Guilmon replied, using his partner's real name to show that he respected her wishes.

Guilmon handed Nero his jacket, thanking him for it. Nero quickly looked over it, noticing hat despite Guilmon's bandages being bloodstained, none has seeped through enough to reach his jacket. He put it back on and patted Guilmon on the head, returning to the others.

Nero sat down and glanced at his Digivice, noting the locations of the others who weren't in the group.

"As I stated earlier, there are two different sectors we could go to from here," said Nero. "One of them would involve travelling through the desert region of the Digital World, while the other would involve traversing the Dragon Spring Mountains. The problem with both choices is the distance between towns. The desert area has stronger wild Digimon, but there is more room to fight and it's a fairly straight path. The Dragon Spring Mountains aren't so dangerous unless Gaiomon gets involved, but it's tight, and escape would be difficult if an enemy found us."

"I say we go to the Dragon Spring Mountains!" Hikaru proposed. "Ryudamon and I have a fairly good reputation, so I'm sure we cold get help there."

"And with you there, Lord Yggdrasil, Gaiomon would more than happy to provide us with the assistance and protection necessary," Ryudamon added.

"That probably would be the best choice of action," Nero admitted. "From what the Digivice says, there's only signal in the sector, whereas everyone else appears to have at least someone else with them. Being alone for so long, I'm sure they'd appreciate some company."

"Um, Nero," Aimi suddenly said after hearing him mention that they had been gone for a while. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have we been away from home?"

Aimi's question had struck everyone with surprise; most of them hadn't even realized that they had been away as long as they had.

"I honestly don't know," Nero answered. "I lost track around the time Dorumon first digivolved. If I had to guess, I'd say about three weeks."

"That long?" Andrew gasped.

"Wow," said Alex, looking down at the fire. "I bet my mom's going to turn my disappearance into the scoop of the century. I just hope my dad doesn't take it out on his students."

The human all went deep into thought, remembering their homes and missing them greatly. Just the same, the Digimon stared at the fire with guilty expressions prevalent on their faces. They couldn't help but feel responsible for the way their partners were feeling.

In fact, the humans were not the only ones missing their families; their families were missing them too. It was about two weeks ago, if not sooner, that they deeply began to question the disappearances of the children.

Approximately two weeks ago, after realizing that Nero had missed several days of school, Nero's teacher approached the two boys that had been picking on him.

"Nara! Reiji!" Ms. Yuriko called as the two students headed out the door. "I would like to talk to the two of you for a moment."

The two turned around to face her, wondering what they did wrong.

"Yes, ma'am," they said.

"I want to know exactly what you two said to Nero last week," Ms. Yuriko requested, trying to sound calm like a teacher should. Both students looked at her curiously. "According to the office, Nero's mother had stated that Nero would be taking time off of school for personal reasons that she did not want to discuss. Did you two say anything that may have made him feel so uncomfortable that he didn't want to return? I want you to be completely honest with me!"

"No!" Nara replied firmly. "At least, I don't think I did. I was mad at him for making my friend upset, but all I asked him to do was repay her."

"He's telling the truth, ma'am," Reiji told her.

"Regardless, the two of you are to deliver his class and homework to his house," Ms. Yuriko ordered.

"Fine," Nara grumbled, not wanting to risk losing his football privileges due to what the teacher believed was his fault.

The two boys later walked towards Nero's house to deliver the assignments to him. As they walked, they first cursed Nero for causing them the trouble, but then started wondering if perhaps they were responsible for his absence. Upon arriving at his house, the knocked on the door and were greeted by his mother. They handed over the work, receiving a "Thank you!" from the woman.

"If it's not too much trouble, could we speak to Nero?" Nara asked.

"I'm sorry," Nero's mother replied with a small bit of hesitation. "Nero's not feeling too well at the moment and he's asleep."

The two looked each other and wondered what they should do; no way were they going to waste more of their time by coming back another day. It was then that Nara thought of an idea.

"Excuse me, Miss Arakaki, but do you by any chance know Nero's username for that Digimon game?" he questioned.

"I'm afraid I don't," the woman lied. "If you want, I can tell him you stopped by."

The conversation was briefly interrupted by the arrival of a mailman delivering mail to the house directly. The two students bowed politely and thanked her for their time. As the two walked away, Nara began speaking Reiji.

"Reiji, did you notice the return address on the letter on the top of the pile given to Nero's mom?" he wondered.

"No, why?" Reiji responded.

"It said the letter was from Toy Origins Entertainment Inc.," Nara informed. "That's the company that makes the Digimon game."

"Odd," said Reiji. "Why would the company that makes the Digimon game be sending Nero a letter?"

In another part of Japan, Hikaru's mother picked up a phone and sighed. She was dressed very business-like, mostly in black with a white shirt underneath her black jacket, as if she had just returned from work.

"I see, so you haven't found him yet," she said in a disappointed tone, her long red hair hanging over her shoulders as she tilted her head. "Thank you! Please keep looking."

She moved her hair away from her hazel-colored eyes and began dialing a number.

"Hey, honey! I received a call from the police station today. No, they haven't found Hikaru yet. What?! Alex's father told you that his daughter is missing too? Heh, I wish it was something that simple, but Hikaru's not the type of person who would do something like that. I see…Alex was last using a computer as well? Well, once the police figure this thing out, her mother will have quite a story."

After finishing up the conversation, Hikaru's mother hung up the phone and looked up towards the ceiling.

"Oh, Hikaru, where are you? I just hope you're okay."

Unlike Hikaru and Alex's parents, Aimi's parents were not having the police scan the city for heir missing child. In fact, they had no idea that Aimi that the last thing Aimi did was use the computer. They had thought that Aimi went on her school's camping trip. Apparently, somehow someone had mistakenly marked Aimi as present on the bus, so it was assumed that she went missing on the trip. When Aimi's friend was questioned, she thought they had been talking about the previous week, when Aimi actually had spent the night, so she confirmed it. Several members of the school's staff, feeling guilty for the supposed disappearance, had taken some time off to help try and locate her.

Since no body had been found at the camp grounds or anywhere around the area, they figured that there was an equal chance that she was still alive; of course her parents never gave up hope. Even the nearby lake was checked using scuba diving equipment; once again, nothing was found, not even any personal belongings.

It wasn't until a few days ago that Yotsuba's father had noticed that she was missing. He was a business man of sorts, always dressed professionally. After Yotsuba's mother divorced him, there was nobody to really take care of Yotsuba. He regretted working so much, but he wanted to make sure his daughter would be financially secure if something ever happened to him, but he enjoyed his work enough to the point where his intentions went unnoticeable. Due to working so late, he never noticed her disappearance. The moment he realized she had never come home and that her school hadn't seen her in days, he knew something was wrong. He even took the next couple days off from work, just hoping to hear from her.

"How…" the tall, short blonde-haired man constantly thought. "How could I not notice this? And I call myself her father!"

Zaki's disappearance in Malaysia had been questioned just like the children from Japan, but the police were unable to locate him anywhere either.

Things were no different in England, where her mother had asked the police to look for her. She knew that she wasn't the world's best mother, and that Sandra didn't like hanging around her if it could be avoided. It was possible that Sandra ran away, so her mother asked the police just to make sure that she was okay, and once she was found, to tell her that she missed her.

In the case of Aaron, both of his parents were already dead, so his caretakers were the only ones that would be truly worried about him. However, they weren't too concerned about his whereabouts for the moment, mainly due to the fact that he had left behind a note saying that he was going on a trip to visit an old friend Japan. This, of course, was an obvious lie, as although he knew Yggdrasil's true identity was someone from Japan, he couldn't say he knew who he was and that they were friends. Regardless of this, Aaron was rich and had notable social skills, so it was believable.

Conrad from France had done something similar to escape to the Digital World. Having been spoiled so much as a child, his parents let him do pretty much whatever he wanted. When he told his parents he wanted to visit Japan, his father naturally forked over some money to allow him to go. Upon being asked why he wanted to go, Conrad responded that he won a contest with a group of others, and that he would get work with the creator of his favorite game.

Both children from the United States, Raeana and Andrew, were only really missed by their families, due to both of them having very few friends. Naturally, Raeana's mother was quick to notice her daughter's mysterious absence, having almost always been home. She had noticed it the first day. After realizing that her daughter had not come out of her room all day and night, she sent to check on her and see if anything had happened that day. She discovered that Ana was missing and immediately called the police. Even a week later, she had never been found. The same was true for Andrew; the police never found him.

In Australia, Jillian's brother had been the first to notice she was missing. Jillian's mother could still remember her son running into the kitchen while she was preparing dinner for the three of them, and that he was saying "Mom! Mom! Jillian's missing!" The two of them had gone out searching for her before alerting the authorities of her disappearance, since Jillian's brother had seen her about ten minutes beforehand. While Jillian's mother soon informed the police of the situation, her brother couldn't help but wonder if the Digimon game had something to do with it. As the days went by, and after reading the rumors of the human avatars on message boards, he began to find his theory more and more plausible. He had examined the messages he had in the game multiple times, but the one from Yggdrasil caught his eye. He had a feeling that the user known as Yggdrasil was responsible, but he had no proof to back it up, and if he could, he wondered what would be the right thing to do.

Out of the 13 children, Brandon was the only one who had not gone missing within the week. It wasn't until after two weeks in all that he had been given a chance to go to the Digital World. After finally managing to tell his mother that he was going to a strange place that seemed impossible to reach, he had his family be at the computer to see him off.

"This is crazy!" his mother exclaimed. "You can't be serious, Brandon!"

"You're crazy!" his younger sister stated with a questionable look on his face.

"I have to agree, this does seem pretty stupid," his younger brother said.

"I'm going to have to ask the lot of you not to talk about my partner like that," a voice from the computer announced.

The voice freaked the three family members out, resulting in Brandon giving a small chuckle.

"See ya around!" he told the three as held his Digivice up to the computer screen, disappearing instantly as a blinding light illuminated the room.

The three looked on with dumbfounded expressions as Brandon vanished from sight. They scurried over to the computer and were shocked to see Brandon facedown on the ground inside the monitor. They all gasped in disbelief, unable to believe that Brandon was telling the truth about the Digital World.

"Be careful!" his mother wished.

In the Digital World, Brandon lifted his head out of the dirt to hear a voice saying, "It's about time!" He looked up to see a strange wolf-like Digimon sitting atop a broken pillar. He had a bluish-light purple fur color, with a white belly and muzzle region. He sat upright as if he walked on his hind legs, wearing long white pants held up with a black belt, as well as black straps tied around his legs. He wore black gloves to cover his sharp claws in addition to straps around his elbows.

"I didn't think it would take you this long to get here!" he grumbled as he nimbly hopped off the pillar, a black scarf flowing freely behind him from around his neck. He extended an arm and helped the human to his feet. "The name's Strabimon."

"Nice to meet you, Strabimon," Brandon replied as he got to his feet, making contact with the Digimon's brown eyes. "Thanks for the help! And sorry for making you wait for so long."

"I've got to admit, I was getting tired of waiting myself," a female voice said.

Brandon turned around to see Yotsuba standing there with her partner, Kotemon.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

"My name's Yotsuba Ishimori," the girl greeted kindly, holding out her right hand. "My partner over her is Kotemon."

"It's a pleasure," said Kotemon, bowing politely.

"I'm Brandon Omiyage," Brandon responded, shaking Yotsuba's hand.

"I saw her passing by one day and asked her for assistance," Strabimon explained. "She was heading to the larger group, and agreed to stay after realizing that you'd be alone."

"Is that so?" Brandon questioned. "Thank you, Yotsuba."

"Now that you're here, we can finally get moving," Strabimon firmly stated. "I've already told Yotsuba and Kotemon the plan, which they both agreed with. Rather than meet up with the larger, we're going to check out an area up north that supposedly holds an item that will be beneficial to our overall goal. We'll then assist the others up there before joining with the larger group. Is that all right with you?"

"Well, I made you guys wait for so long, so you've had plenty of time to think this through," Brandon replied with a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "I guess it's all right with me. Lead the way!"

Strabimon nodded his head, Yotsuba and Kotemon soon doing the same.

"Very well, let's go!" Strabimon said in a leader-like tone.

As the third week passed, after Nero and the others had defeated Belphemon, one of the members of the company that made the Digimon game reported to a group of his coworkers with news of a video posted on the popular internet site, YouTube, containing disturbing footage concerning the rumors about human avatars in the game.


	22. Chapter 21: The Next Enemy

**Chapter 21: Gathering of Dark Powers! The Next Enemy**

A dozen people, nine men and three women, all in formal attire sat gathered around a rectangular-shaped table in some kind of business meeting room at the Toy Origins Entertainment Inc. headquarters, the topic of discussion being the human avatar players being seen around the game. It had been approximately two days since Nero and the others had defeated Belphemon, and the video footage on YouTube had received over 100,000 hits in such a short amount of time, the number seemingly doubling every day.

"This news is very curious," the company's president, a man with short blond hair parted off to the side, stated. "We've done are part to keep Nero's identity a secret, but he did promise to alert us before making any such additions live. If it was just one account, then we could confirm that it was Nero, but multiple users from across the planet are said to be using them."

"It's a shame the quality of the footage was so low," a woman with long brown hair tied into a ponytail said.

"Sir, we did as you said and investigated all of the PMs of every user on the servers," a man with short black hair in a bowl shape informed. "Someone under the username Yggdrasil did in fact send messages out to twelve users, but there was a problem."

"A problem?" the president responded in a curious manner.

"Yes, sir!" the man replied. "You see, the IP addresses or even the names in general could not be read. When the names appeared on the monitor, they came out as numbers, some of them backwards, and the IP addresses were constantly changing to things that never even made sense. In addition, if you tried to open the message to read it, the system would reset. The username Yggdrasil was the only name that we could actually read, but the IP address constantly changed as well. We have no way of knowing if it really is Nero's doing, as he has yet to send us a reply in the mail and his mother keeps saying that he is unavailable. We even sent someone to go see him yesterday, but apparently his mother said that he was visiting a relative outside of the country."

"This is disturbing news indeed," the president sighed. "Not to mention the fact that some couple accused us of having something to do with their daughter's mysterious disappearance; I believe it was around the same time that these sightings started. I suppose we'll have to run THAT program that Nero ordered us to only run during a situation in which he couldn't take care of."

Meanwhile, Nero and the others were already passing through the Dragon Spring Mountains, everyone's injuries healed enough to the point where they could travel.

"We should arrive at the Dragon Spring Village in about two hours," Ryudamon announced having remembered the location of it.

Nero admitted that she was right in time length.

"Everyone stay close and don't wander too far!" he ordered. "I don't want to risk Gaiomon getting the wrong idea. Even if he does respect me and wouldn't hurt me, I don't want to get him angry."

"That means 'behave!'" Alex told Veemon.

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Veemon, crossing his arms across his chest and turning his head off to the side.

In another part of the Digital World, a group of six Digimon gathered at the virus' chambers, the small black figure still within the pillar of light.

"Hey, where's Belphemon?" one of the Digimon lurking in the shadows questioned.

"He won't be joining us…ever," the virus retorted as disrespectfully as possible.

"So the fool finally bit the dust, eh?" a female voice cackled. "I suppose with a weakness such as his, it was only a matter of time."

"I'm guessing that you all now know why you're here," said the virus. "Which one of you will bring Lord Yggdrasil and take care of Dorumon? Lillithmon…"

As the virus mentioned the name, a female Digimon stepped into the light. She was human-like, wearing a black outfit that began at her breasts and traveled down to her legs. Her arms were slipped through a purple dress that dangled from her arms and below her waist. She apparently was not wearing it fully. Her black hair neatly covered her entire forehead and reached the back of her neck, and she had a tiny pair of devil-like horns sticking out through her hair. She had two black devil-like wings, as well as several black strands attached to the back of her dress. He right arm appeared to be decaying, the hand of which housing a set of golden claw-like nails.

"…Beelzemon…"

As the next name was mentioned, a tall figure stepped out of the darkness. He was dressed entirely in grayish-black material, a small open coat exposing his muscular physique. He wore pants with plated kneecaps, the lower leg area hidden entirely by his metal spike-tipped boots with guns strapped to them. He also wore long gloves with armor protecting his outer arm area that covered his more than likely sharp claws. With the exception of his mouth, a purple mask covered his head with sockets for three eyes, long white hair sticking out behind him. A rat-like tail hung behind his body.

"…Leviamon…"

A red-skinned crocodile-like Digimon stepped forward, his long teeth-lined muzzle nearly, if not the length of his body. Thick black scales protected the top of his snout, and sky blue fin-like spikes traveled down each shoulder to the end of his long tail. The backs of his four stubby legs were all lined with fins as well.

"…Barbamon…"

This time the figure of an old elf-like Digimon stepped forward, dressed in red and gold-patterned purple Native American style outfit, round red gems aligning the inside area around his shoulders and chest. His pants were long and tan-colored, almost resembling something made out of animal skin. He had a long white beard, long white hair that traveled down his entire back and six red wings that sprouted from his back. In his right hand he carried a staff topped off with the skull of a deceased Digimon containing a red orb in its mouth.

"…Daemon…"

A red-cloaked figure with two satanic-looking horns sticking out from his head stepped forward. His cloak was embroidered with gold linings at the bottom and around the edge of each wrist. A back triangle-shaped cloth ran down his neck to his groin, a mysterious green zigzag symbol with a star at the end on it. Around his neck lay a silver medallion, and his feet were covered with pointed purple shoes. Two purple demonic wings were attached to his back, and piercing green eyes stared out from his red pointy hood.

"…and Lucemon…"

The sixth Digimon to step forward resembled a man sporting some attire that was white around the torso and grey around the limbs. A golden crest lay on his chest, and red markings traveled down each arm. He wore angelic-style boots, golden winks around each ankle, and a white belt across his waist with a smaller gold crest. He had five pairs of wings, the right half white and the left half black, and another identical pair sticking out of his head like horns and a small pair behind his neck. Long golden hair flowed down his head, the Digimon using his white hands to keep it out of his face.

"With Belphemon's recent failure, I'm leaving the six of you in charge of this matter."

The six Digimon looked at each other, the gaze each one sent showing whether they wanted to take it or not.

"I'll go first!" all of the Digimon except for Leviamon and Lucemon said simultaneously.

"No way, I'm first!" Beelzemon growled, glaring at the other three whom had wanted to go.

"Why should you be first?" Lillithmon spat.

"I have to agree," stated Daemon calmly. "I should be the one who brings Lord Yggdrasil here."

"Master," Lucemon whispered to the virus. "Something tells me this was a bad idea."

The virus sighed in agreement as he watched the four bicker over who should get to go.

"Perhaps it would be best if I went first," Barbamon suggested, waving his wand about. "After all, I could come up with the perfect strategy."

Beelzemon quickly drew a gun and pointed it at Barbamon's forehead in the blink of an eye.

"Perhaps you should shut your trap, old man!" he exclaimed, finger on the trigger. "Unless you want my bullets embedded into your skull, you better not try any of that magic mumbo jumbo crap!"

"Whatever," Leviamon sighed without looking at the quarreling Digimon. "If Beelzemon wants to do it so bad, just let him. I don't care either way."

"You'll say anything to get out of doing I yourself, eh coward?" Lillithmon cackled.

"Come to think of it, Leviamon, what is the status report of the two humans in your sector?" the virus asked in a curious tone.

"They are of no threat to you, master," Leviamon answered. "My men are keeping constant tabs on them, and they have yet to obtain the Champion-level of digivolution. I have had no reason to launch an attack on them, and my men are doing their best to keep them trapped within my sector. I hope to convert them over to your cause if possible."

"Translation: I'm too scared to approach them, and don't want to risk letting them get mad and digivolve," Beelzemon chuckled, sheathing his gun.

The other four Demon Lords joined in the laugh, causing Leviamon to sulk a bit.

"Just shut the hell up!" he muttered.

The four arguing Demon Lords continued to debate about who should get a shot at Yggdrasil and Dorumon.

"Haven't you ever heard the expression 'ladies first?'" Lillithmon questioned as sincerely as she possibly could.

"If I ever see a lady, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," responded Beelzemon.

"What was that?!" Lillithmon yelled, charging at him and swinging her decayed arm forward.

"You heard me, wench!" Beelzemon snickered, raising his gun again, this time at Lillithmon.

Lillithmon stopped with her claw at Beelzemon's neck and his gun to her forehead, both an inch away from killing each other. They stared at each other with a furious gaze, only to be blown back seconds later by a powerful burst of energy. After crashing into the wall, the two slowly stumbled to their feet to find the virus glaring angrily at them from within the pillar of light. Lillithmon looked back at him, eyes full of terror, while Beelzemon looked at him with a ticked-off expression, unable to accept the difference in power between them.

"Enough! Both of you!" roared the virus. "I've decided, since they're heading towards Lillithmon's sector, she gets to go first. Should she fail, which she better not, you'll get to go next, Beelzemon."

"Better do as he says," Barbamon told Beelzemon. "After all, if they lose to Lillithmon, surely they can't possibly be worth your time and effort."

"Fine," Beelzemon uttered, sheathing his gun and storming off to a balcony on one of the castle's upper levels.

"Thank you, master," Lillithmon said kindly, curtsying in a very lady-like way. "I swear I won't fail you."

As the Digimon began to leave one-by-one, DemiDevimon entered the chamber and approached the virus.

"Master, I found him in the outskirts of Belphemon's sector," the small Digimon reported. "He confirmed your suspicions about Belphemon losing it and said that he wanted to train on his own and get strong enough to do what you asked of him, so he doesn't want to come back here yet. He did agree to go with whoever you asked though."

"I see," replied the virus with a sigh. "Please tell him that I have another task for him at the moment of greater importance and that he needs to come here as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir!" DemiDevimon replied, saluting him with his right wing before taking off.

Back at the Dragon Spring Mountains, Nero and the others had safely arrived at the Dragon Spring Village without any problems. Several In-Training and Rookie-level Digimon swarmed around the group, happy to see everyone. The Dracomon that Hikaru and Ryudamon and previously helped out was there as well, and he was glad to see them again. He even told Ryudamon that he wanted to be strong like her when he got older.

The village itself was very small, but the most noticeable sight was freely flowing spring of some of the cleanest-looking water around. Sitting in the center of the spring was a statue of Gaiomon.

Nero managed to locate a small shop that he had programmed into this area of the game, stocking up on disks and food. The shop itself had very little, and everything was highly inexpensive.

With the sun setting fast, the group decided that it would be best and safest to spend the night in the village, something the Digimon seemed happy to oblige with.

Later that evening, Lucemon approached Beelzemon on a balcony back at the virus' castle. Beelzemon ignored the Digimon's presence, simply gazing off into the distance.

"I'm surprised that you're still up here," Lucemon said.

"Is there a problem with that?" Beelzemon growled.

"No, not at all," replied Lucemon. "It's just that all of the others have gone back to their sectors already. I plan o heading back soon myself."

"Well, good for them," Beelzemon retorted.

"You really got on the master's nerves earlier," Lucemon stated. "Honestly, why do you care so much about fighting Yggdrasil and Dorumon? They might not ever be worth your time!"

"My reasons are none of your concern," Beelzemon spat. "And not all of us are the master's obedient little pets, Lucemon."

"Am I the only one who is truly loyal to him?" Lucemon sighed. "He did release us, so you should be grateful."

"It was YOUR fault we got sealed in that accursed place to begin with!" Beelzemon reminded. "Seeing how you were the youngest of us all, we decided give you a shot at leading us. I'm not a leader, and I personally preferred you over the others. I'm sure the others felt the same way, though we all know how much Barbamon and Daemon wanted to take charge. After THAT incident, most of us figured that we'd be better off not listening to anyone. The ONLY reason the others are even remotely loyal to the master is not because he set us free, but because of his power and the fact that he granted everyone strength, everyone except me that is! I have no reason to obey him, but at the same time, I'm not stupid enough to challenge him, none of us are. So for now, I'll do as he wishes."

Feeling that he had said more than enough, Beelzemon hopped off the ledge and landed atop his black motorcycle Behemoth down below. He rode off into the distance.

"I guess the master was spot on when he told me that I was the only one of us he could trust," he sighed, grinning as he ascended into the sky and flew off towards his own sector.

The next morning, with everyone fully healed and treated to great breakfast by the Digimon of the Dragon Spring Village, the group set off towards the lone signal beyond the mountain range. As they left, Veemon couldn't help but speak up.

"I wonder where Gaiomon is," Veemon said aloud. "I was kind of hoping to meet him."

"He has to protect the area," Nero replied. "The fact that he didn't approach us is probably a good thing."

Unbeknownst to the group, a large Digimon made of nothing but bones with a whale-like missile on his back eyed the group from behind a rock, his eyes glowing red as he prepared to launch a surprise attack. Just as the Digimon was about to attack them, something grabbed him. What it was could not be seen, but there was a large dragon-like shadow looming over the Digimon known as SkullGreymon.

"You will not harm them!" a deep voice spoke before a sickening bone crunch filled the air.

"What was that?" Aimi wondered, getting a bit nervous.

The group stopped to look around, seeing nothing.

"Don't worry, Aimi, it was probably just some rocks falling," Agumon answered.

Without ever knowing that Gaiomon had just protected them, the group continued on their way.


	23. Chapter 22: An Unbeatable Enemy Appears?

**Chapter 22: Rescue Zaki! An Unbeatable Enemy Appears?**

In an area not too far beyond the Dragon Spring Mountains lay a savanna-type landscape. Many different kinds of grasses grew throughout the area, some a bit golden while other kinds were green. The trees were fairly large, so of them almost the size of what you would find in a forest, but they were so spread out that you wouldn't really be able to tell. A group of five Pegasus-like Digimon wearing red masks across their heads, known as Unimon, were gathered around a fairly large watering hole. They lifted their heads at the sound of something large approaching, followed by screaming, then an explosion. Two figures darted out of the smokescreen created by the explosion and began running past the Unimon. All five Digimon looked at the two curiously and suddenly fled the scene as a large tan robot-like figure emerged from the smoke.

One of the characters running away from the robot was Zaki. The other was a Digimon about the same size as him, resembling a pirate. He was dressed in captain-style dark blue uniform with silver buttons going down each side of the chest. The collar of the shirt was so high that neither the Digimon's neck nor lower half of the face could be seen. He wore a blue captain-style hat with a skull and crossbones symbol, the skull being that of an Agumon. Due to the hat and shirt collar, the only part of the Digimon's face that could be seen was the eyes. The left eye was blue, while the other was covered with an eye patch. The Digimon's legs were covered with white pants that were tucked into long blue boots. His right hand had a large golden about one-fifth the length of his body, while his left hand had a cannon that was nearly one-third the length of his body. This Digimon was Hookmon, the Champion-level form of PawnChessmon.

Zaki looked back to see the robot still chasing them. It was a tan-colored metallic figure with a small head, a single red light flickering through a visor as it locked onto its target. The right arm was equipped with small missiles capable of wiping out any weaker Digimon in a single blow, while the left arm had a small machine gun-like weapon attached to its wrist. It could fly through the air with a small jetpack on its back, and its size was about ten feet in height.

"Why is that thing chasing us?!" Zaki shouted. "We didn't do anything to anger it, did we?"

"I don't think so!" Hookmon replied, looking back and firing a blast from his cannon at the robot. The robot did not falter and was not scathed. "I've never seen any Digimon like it before! It just won't give up!"

"It's been chasing us all night!" Zaki panted, barely able to keep on running. "I'm so exhausted! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!"

As the robot drew closer, it held out its right arm and fired a missile just behind Zaki, intentionally missing him. The ground beneath Zaki gave way as the explosion occurred, sending the poor boy flying forwards. He hit the ground with a powerful thud, the wind completely knocked out of him as he barely managed to stay conscious.

Hookmon looked back, crying out for his partner as he rushed over to his aid. The robot slowed to a stop as it drew close enough to reach the human and Digimon. Strangely, it did not seem to have the intent to kill either of them, only capture them as it reached out to grab Zaki.

"Stay away from him!" Hookmon roared, shooting the robot point-blank in the face. "Captain Cannon!"

Meanwhile, further down the savanna landscape, Nero and the others were heading in Zaki's direction.

"Hey, Lord Yggdrasil!" Agumon called. "How much longer until we reach them?"

Nero glanced down at his Digivice, then back towards Agumon.

"At the pace we're going, about two more hours," he answered.

"That long?" Agumon moaned, his stomach growling. "Can we please stop and rest? I'm hungry!"

"Can't you think about anything other than food?" Ryudamon scowled. "Honestly, you and Veemon were both complaining about it the entire trip down the mountains yesterday, even after we had received such a nice breakfast too."

"My feet are a bit sore too," Aimi whined, looking down at her feet.

"Perhaps resting up for a bit would be a good idea, Nero," suggested Alex. "We can shut up Agumon and get some rest at the same time."

Nero looked down at Dorumon, and although he didn't say anything, he could tell that he was hungry too.

"All right, we'll stop and have lunch, then meet up with this other person later," Nero decided.

"Yeah!" Agumon cheered happily, pausing for a moment after realizing what Alex has said. "Hey!"

The group sat down on the grass, Nero taking the food items out of the storage on his Digivice, causing it to appear before the group. Agumon and Veemon casually joked around as they ate, while Alex massaged Aimi feet after removing her shoes.

"Feel any better?" Alex asked her.

"Much better! Thanks, Alex!" replied Aimi, smiling and giggling a bit.

Alex reminded Aimi of her older sister, since she rarely saw her nowadays. Even though Ryudamon hadn't wanted to stop and eat, she still enjoyed her food with Hikaru by her side. Kudamon remained perched upon his partner's shoulder, taking small bites from a Rice Ball Andrew held up to him while Andrew ate his own. Guilmon eventually joined Agumon and Veemon, laughing a bit along with them, with Ana engaging Alex and Aimi in a conversation.

Nero glanced around, seeing everyone enjoy themselves, and then looked down at Dorumon beside him. Dorumon's eyes were closed, the Digimon happily munching on a Rice Ball. Even though it was such a peaceful atmosphere, Nero couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. He looked off towards the distance as a light gust of wind blew across his face.

"Something's just not right here," he thought. "I don't feel any danger, but still…"

"Something wrong?" asked Dorumon, lifting his head up and taking a break from his food.

Dorumon's question seemed to draw the attention of the others, who noticed that Nero looked worried about something.

"I don't know," Nero answered, looking back out towards the distance. "We should get going soon."

As the smoke cleared from Hookmon's point-blank shot at the robots face, the Digimon gasped in horror as the robot appeared to be completely unscathed. The mechanical monster seemed annoyed with Hookmon's pestering attempts to stop it and swatted him away with a heavy arm. Grass and dirt flew everywhere as Hookmon skidded across the ground.

"H-Hookmon…" Zaki uttered as bared witness to this, trying to get up.

The robot took his attention away from Hookmon and reached out for Zaki once again.

"Get your filthy hands away from him!" Hookmon growled as he stammered to his feet. The robot paid no mind to him and continued reaching out. "Captain Cannon!"

Hookmon started firing more shots from the cannon on his arm at the robot's arm. The robot did not retaliate, seeing him as hardly a threat, but the actions did provide Zaki with a few brief seconds to get up and run.

"Run, Zaki!!!" cried Hookmon. "Get out of here now!"

Zaki didn't need Hookmon's signal; he was already trying to run. The robot began using its left arm to shield itself from Hookmon's attack and dove forward, managing to grab hold of Zaki with its right. Zaki cried out as he was grabbed, struggling to break free.

"Damn it!" cursed Hookmon, screaming out loudly with his arms by his side. "I said, 'DON'T TOUCH HIM!!!'"

As Hookmon shouted this out, Zaki's Digivice began to glow, striking Hookmon with a beam of light and causing him to digivolve to the next level.

"Hookmon digivolve to…" he shouted as his form changed and he increased in height. His flesh seemed to wrinkle and decay a bit as his entire body was wrapped up in white tape. In his right arm he held a large rifle with a roll of bullet-like ammo strapped across his weight. Two cane-like staffs were strapped to his back in a cross-like fashion, and his leg had steel supports. A purple bandanna replaced the hat on his head, and he no longer had a hook or cannon on his arms. "Mummymon!"

Using his Snake Bandage attack, Mummymon flung his left arm forward and released several strands of his wrapping at the robots right arm while firing a laser from his rifle at the robot's left arm to distract him.

"Mummymon?" Zaki weakly gasped as he saw Hookmon's digivolution to the Ultimate-level. "Hookmon, you…"

The robot yanked its arm violently as it tried to pull away Mummymon, and although Mummymon's tape began to tear, the Digimon quickly strengthened it by adding releasing more bandages.

Mummymon quickly used the bandages to pull himself towards the robot, getting up in its face and once again firing a point-blank shot at it. The laser still had no effect on the robot, but when it could make out what was in front of it again, Zaki and Mummymon were both gone. The robot lifted its head and scanned the surrounding area for them.

In the desert, Conrad and Jillian were doing training of their own. Candlemon had digivolved to his Champion-level form, which happened to be a Wizardmon like the one Nero and the others had encountered earlier. The main difference was that Conrad's partner was much more powerful.

Wizardmon could be seen attacking a large-cactus-like Digimon sporting red boxing gloves known as Togemon. Togemon skillfully dodged the attacks Wizardmon threw, quickly closing in on him and trying to punch him. Wizardmon used his staff to block the strike and leapt backwards.

"Needle Spray!" Togemon yelled, shooting several needles at Wizardmon.

Using amazing reflexes, Wizardmon managed to protect himself with his staff and safely landed back on the ground.

"Good work, Wizardmon!" Conrad complimented, resulting in Wizardmon thanking him and reverting back to his Rookie-level form. "The larger group is heading to that lone signal in the northwest. If we're going to meet up with them later, we need to be at our strongest." The human then turned to face Togemon. "Thanks again for sparring with us every day, Togemon."

"No problem," Togemon replied, slamming his gloves together. "This is a good workout for me too! There aren't many that pose much of a challenge in his town and stay for long."

"All right, Veemon! It's your turn," Jillian told her partner.

Veemon nodded his head and confronted Togemon, taking a battle-ready stance by placing his right arm behind him and his left in front. He charged directly at Togemon without even trying to digivolve, throwing several punches at him. Togemon easily blocked the punches without any difficultly, countering him with an uppercut and sending him flying skyward. Togemon unleashed another spray of needles, forcing Veemon to cover himself with arms.

Veemon landed safely on the ground, but his arms hung limply to his side. He was unable to move them anymore, and was helpless as Togemon lunged at him. Togemon held back his strength, but his blow still did enough damage to Veemon.

"Stop it, please!" Jillian begged. "That's enough, Veemon!"

"N-No, Jill! I can't!" Veemon declared, barely able to get stumble to his feet. "I don't like fighting, but the others may need our help! Besides…" Veemon began to chuckle a bit, wincing soon after and interrupting his laugh. "I have to be strong enough to protect you."

Although Veemon spoke big, he knew something was wrong. No matter how often or hard he sparred with stronger Digimon, no matter how much danger he was put in, no matter how experience he gained, he couldn't seem to digivolve. In terms of physical strength, he was stronger than the majority of Rookie-level Digimon, but that didn't help him when it came to opponents of the next level. He was really worried about putting Jillian's life in danger.

Back in the savanna, Mummy had hidden Zaki from the robot's scanner by wrapiing him in his bandages and dipping them in mud. It has delayed the robot for a little while, but Mummymon was quickly running out of energy, and Zaki's body temperature eventually broke through. Eventually, not even Mummymon could help out anymore, and he was forced into his Rookie-level form of PawnChessmon. When this happened, he could no longer hide Zaki the same way he had been. They could hear the robot's heavy steps as it approached, and the two had to flee. They didn't get far before the robot intercepted them.

Luckily for them, they had bought just enough time for Nero and the others to get closer. As they neared the scene, Dorumon and Guilmon perked their heads up, the other Digimon soon doing the same.

"What is it, Dorumon?" Nero wondered upon seeing Dorumon. Dorumon didn't answer and began running forward, Nero following behind him. "Hey, Dorumon!"

Everyone chased after him as well, skiiding to a stop upon laying eyes upon the robot. In each hand was an unconscious figure, Zaki in the right and PawnChessmon in the left.

"What is that thing?" questioned Ana.

"It doesn't have a scent," answered Guilmon, sniffing the air.

"I can't find any information on it!" Alex announced, holding up her Digivice.

"That's because it's not a Digimon!" Nero informed. "Dorumon!"

"Right!" Dorumon responded, stepping in front of him and squatting a bit. "Metal Cannon!"

Dorumon shot his projectiles, not at the robot, but at Zaki. It just barely grazed him, knocking his Digivice away from him. The others tried to protest, claiming that Nero nearly hit Zaki. Nero told them all to just shut up and watch as the robot prepared to take off, having not noticed the other humans and Digimon behind it. However, just as it took off, it suddenly returned to the ground and dropped the two of them. It turned around, heading back towards the Digivice, when it suddenly noticed Nero approaching it.

"Shutdown Tracking Program BETA, password: Y-G-G-D-R-A-S-I-L-1-D-O-R-U-M-O-N!" Nero ordered.

No sooner than when Nero uttered those words did the robot suddenly stop moving, the red light in its eye fading from view.

"What the hell was that thing?!" Hikaru asked Nero.

Nero heaved a deep sigh and turned to face the others, standing firm.

"This is a tracking program I devised," Nero explained. "You think I designed this game without any security? This program was designed to track down the I.P. address of anyone who would attempt to hack into the game, even if they masked it well. Once it finds the address, it sends back the information of the computer to company who distributes this game. I was worried that the company would mistake us for some kind of hackers, so I told Dorumon what to do long ago if one of us were caught by it. You see, our I.P. addresses are linked to our Digivices, and since our bodies are data inside of this game, attaching the Digivice to our person connects us to our I.P. address. I never imagined that the program would take a robotic form like this when activated, but I knew that it wasn't a Digimon the moment Guilmon stated that it didn't have a scent. Based on how I designed the program, if it took on a form like this, I would estimate that its power would equal that of Belphemon. To make matters worse, it doesn't have any weaknesses and never tires out! It's a good thing I remembered that it shut it down, otherwise we would never have been able to stop it at our current level."

The others were all shocked by the information Nero presented.

"In other words, we must be causing trouble in our world," he said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. "Hopefully, since I shut it down, those idiots won't send any more of these after us."

The group rushed over to tend to Zaki and PawnChessmon, and while Nero used the discs to help heal the Digimon, Alex tended to Zaki. Once the two for feeling well enough, they introduced themselves to the group and thanked them for all of their help. After everyone else was introduced, Nero began explaining the situation to them. Both instantly agreed to help.

Nero saw fit for everyone to spend the night, during which the two newest members enjoyed their first decent meals in a while. The next morning, everyone had breakfast together before setting off towards the south in hopes of meeting up the two other signals. The group was left unaware that a mysterious figure had been watching them.

"I thought they would never leave!" a familiar female voice moaned. The voice belonged to Lillithmon, whom suddenly appeared behind the stationary robot. "So, this thing is as strong as us, is it? It seems dangerous indeed, especially if someone else knows the password."

Lillithmon let out an evil laugh, cackling maniacally as she decided how she could use the robot to help her with her plan.


	24. Chapter 23: Secret of the DigiCore

**Chapter 23: Target: Dorumon! Secret of the Digi-Core**

In the middle of a large bay leading to the ocean sat a small island. The strange thing about this island was that it was floating not in the water, but above it. The floating land mass cast a shadow of the clear blue water, a small whirlpool rotating violently underneath it. The island was very small, only about half a mile in diameter and housing a temple half the size. Though the rest of the island was covered in grass, there were no trees or flowers. The temple contained a single entrance, but the interior was empty apart from several hieroglyphs; their purpose was unclear at the moment.

Lillithmon stood in the center of temple, looking into a beam of light and talking to a small black figure through it, the virus.

"Are you sure this plan of yours will work, Lillithmon?" the virus asked in a questionable tone.

"Yes, master," the evil Digimon answered assuredly, bowing before him on one knee. "I have done my research by examining all of the Digimon I could, and I am certain that Dorumon is no different. That little dangerous attack of his further proves my theory. All I request is that you please grant me just a small fraction of your power. I know you've given me more than a gracious amount already, but I don't want to risk the same result as Belphemon."

The virus heaved a sigh and looked into Lillithmon's eyes, seeing absolute confidence that her plan would come to fruition.

"Very well, Lillithmon," the virus decided, closing his eyes. Lillithmon's right arm began to glow with a dark aura. "I will grant you a bit more power. This will not increase your overall strength, but it will increase the corrupting power of your Nazar Nail even more."

"You are too kind, master," said Lillithmon as kindly as possible, trying to flatter him. "By this time tomorrow, you will have either a new servant and/or one less problem altogether."

"I'm counting on you," the virus said sternly, disconnecting the transmission.

"You don't really think she'll succeed, do you master?" a familiar voice asked the virus from within his chambers. The virus looked up to see BlackGabumon and DemiDevimon approaching. "Well, I'm here."

"To be honest, I really don't know this time," he replied in an unsure manner. "She's not like Belphemon. Still, I didn't want to her this much of my power; not because I'm worried she'll turn against me, but because I don't know what kind of affect it will have."

Back in the temple, Lillithmon faced away from where the light pillar once stood and began walking towards the entrance. A single red light illuminated the area behind her and heavy steps could be heard.

Quite some distance from the bay was where Nero's group had sat down for lunch. It had been about two days since Zaki joined the group. According to Nero, it would still be a few days before they managed to meet up with the signals down south, assuming that they did not start heading towards them as well. After what had recently happened with Zaki, Nero had hoped that they wouldn't leave where they were. They had been safe up to this point, having not moved in weeks, and would probably continue to remain safe until he and the others could reach them. At least there were two of them.

"Something bothering you?" Alex asked Nero after realized that he wasn't eating and that he had his usual glare on his face.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," Nero told her. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened so far."

"Nero, if you don't mind my asking, what's with that look you always seem to have?" Alex wondered, causing Dorumon to stop eating and look up at her. "Are you mad about something?"

"Lord Yggdrasil…" said Dorumon.

"It's all right, Dorumon," Nero stated, looking over at Alex. "Sorry, it's nothing like that. Whenever I'm deep in thought, I focus on a random spot and glare like that to help me better concentrate. It sort of allows me to paint an image in my head. However, often times I accidentally focus on a point near a person, and when they see me, they think I'm looking down upon them, like I'm more superior. I don't have many friends because of this image I present."

"Oh," Alex responded, looking down at her food. "Sorry I asked."

Nero told her that there was no reason to apologize and thanked her for giving him a chance to explain it, instead of just hating him for it. She was the first person to ask about it without sounding angry with him.

Zaki seemed happy to be around other humans after being alone with PawnChessmon for so long, and could currently be seen talking with Andrew and Hikaru while PawnChessmon discussed things with Kudamon and Ryudamon. Everyone else pretty much did what they always did. Having not really taken Zaki and PawnChessmon into consideration when he last picked up some food, Nero prayed that they would have enough to last them until they reached the next town. At the current rate of consumption, it was possible that the group would be limited to two meals a day, small meals at that. Nero smirked as he thought about how Agumon and Veemon would react to that.

After resting up for a bit, the group was once again on the move, heading south towards one of the more desert-like regions of the Digital World. As they walked, they occasionally spotted a few human-controlled Digimon passing by, but they assumed they weren't noticed because none of them ever stopped to look at them or approach.

"Hey, Nero, there's something I've been ask," Hikaru randomly said at one point. "Why is there a desert to the south? Shouldn't it be more towards the center?"

"That would make more sense, wouldn't it?" Nero chuckled. "Well, this game isn't exactly like our world, and if I mentioned the guardian of the southern region, you'd probably see more or less why it's a desert. Anyway, even farther south is an area known as the Ice Tundra. At the moment there is there is nothing there apart from strong-level Digimon that most players in the game couldn't handle yet. It was planned to be added in an expansion pack, housing an entrance to the…" Nero suddenly stopped talking, remembering something that he couldn't believe he forgot about. Everyone wondered what was wrong. "An entrance to the Dark Area! The Dark Area is place housing the strongest Digimon, or at least it would be. It's an area in the depths of the Digital World and would have been the setting of a conspiracy storyline involving the Seven Demon Lords, like Belphemon. However, seeing how I never added all of the information yet, that place should have been inaccessible to even the virus."

"What are you saying?" Andrew questioned.

"I'm saying that we never should have had to even fight Belphemon," Nero informed. "Something isn't right here."

Before the group could relaly go on any farther, a strange buzzing sound filled the air around them. Up in the sky, a swarm of bee-like Digimon was flying right towards them. Nero looked at his Digivice, identifying them as Fanbeemon, a bunch of Rookie-level Insect-type Digimon of the Virus attribute.

"For Lady Lillithmon!" they cheered as they dove towards the humans and Digimon.

It took no time for the Digimon to take care of even that many Fanbeemon, defeating all of the without even digivolving or breaking up a sweat. The Digimon all twitched and lay on the ground in a defeated state as the group left them to be.

"That was way too easy," Veemon bragged.

"Exactly," Kudamon replied. "Based on what we've encountered so far, there must be something more."

"I agree," said Guilmon, sniffing the air for any signs of approaching danger.

Something whizzed through the air and struck the ground in front of the group, creating an explosion that knocked everyone back and onto their rears or bellies.

"You HAD to say that, didn't you?" Veemon groaned pushing himself to his feet.

Zaki and PawnChessmon both began to shiver nervously, setting eyes up the figure that now stood before them. It was the same robot that he chased only a couple days ago. Nero was also shocked at the sight.

"How the hell did that thing start working again?!" Nero gasped. "Did those idiots re-activate it?" Without waiting any longer, Nero instantly repeated the same things he had said to de-activate it earlier. "Shutdown Tracking Program BETA, password: Y-G-G-D-R-A-S-I-L-1-D-O-R-U-M-O-N!"

This time the robot did not stop moving, but instead raised it arm to shoot another missile at the group. Nero once again shouted his command.

"Shutdown Tracking Program BETA, password: Y-G-G-D-R-A-S-I-L-1-D-O-R-U-M-O-N!"

When the command failed, the robot instantly released its missile, forcing the group to scatter just to avoid being caught by it. Nero cursed loudly, wondering what was going on. As he finished, an evil laugh filled the air all around them, seemingly from everywhere.

"I'm afraid that won't work anymore, Lord Yggdrasil!" a female voice cackled.

Although Nero didn't recognize the voice, he did recognize the Digimon as he looked at the bewitching character floating overhead. He pulled out his Digivice to give a more accurate description to the others.

"That's Lillithmon," he relayed. "She's on of the Seven Demon Lords I mentioned earlier, like Belphemon. She likes to curse her opponents with her Phantom Pain attack before finally granting them death with deadly Nazar Nail!"

"I'm pleased with how much information you put on me, Lord Yggdrasil," Lillithmon stated with an evil smirk. "You really should be more careful with passwords, Lord Yggdrasil; all I did was cut a little wire and that little password no longer became a problem after re-activating it. What's more? When I started it back up again, it asked for an order. I told it to obey my every command and my commands only, and it did just that. Who would've guessed?"

Lillithmon let out a maniacal laughter, everyone glaring at her angrily and taking battle-ready poses. "Now get them!"

The robot charged at the Digimon and began firing bullets rapidly from its left arm at whatever ones it could. The Digimon who were not aimed at took the opportunity to digivolve to their Ultimate-level stages. DoruGreymon, WarGreymon, and MetalGreymon managed to distract the robot with a barrage of attacks long enough for the other Digimon to digivolve as well.

The Digimon had the robot fully surrounded at this point and unleashed their attacks upon it. When the smoke caused by the impact of the attacks cleared, the robot could be seen fully intact, seemingly no damage done to it.

"Damn it!" cursed Mummymon. "Why won't this thing just die already?!"

The robot pointed its machine gun-like appendage forward and began spinning in place, firing randomly and rapidly in all directions. The action happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that only WarGrowlmon and MetalGreymon had any chance to defend themselves. AeroVeedramon, HisyaRumon, Mummymon, and Qilinmon all took the barrage of bullets, falling backwards as they were hit. Though it didn't damage them too badly, they still struggled to get back to their feet. Lillithmon held her left hand in front of her face and began laughing until she noticed that DoruGreymon was not among the group. She looked around for him.

"Hmm, now where did he run off to?" she thought.

She suddenly looked to the sky to see DoruGreymon diving towards the robot, his sharps claws fully extended. The robot managed to sidestep at the very last second, but DoruGreymon's claws still managed to graze the robot's left arm, slicing open the metallic skin and revealing part of its internal mechanics.

"He actually cut it?!" HisyaRumon let out, impressed by the sight.

Even Nero was surprised, having not expected even DoruGreymon to be able to hurt the robot. Witnessing the sight, Qilinmon instantly began to think of a plan involving how they could use DoruGreymon to defeat the robot. As DoruGreymon was about to jump away from the robot, Lillithmon suddenly appeared before him and threw her decayed arm forward, trying to scratch his face with her Nazar Nail. Unable to dodge this quick strike, DoruGreymon was forced to dip his head back and block it with the horn on his head. DoruGreymon's eyes widened in fear as he focused them on the poison slowly dripping from the tip of the claw.

"Get rid of them!" Lillithmon ordered to the robot. "This one is mine!"

The robot raised its right arm, firing missiles at all of the other Digimon. They all scattered before the robot fired them this time, easily avoiding them. Lillithmon noticed that DoruGreymon was charging up for his Metal Meteor and immediately smacked him with her left arm, knocking him to the side and away from the others. Seeing that he couldn't use DoruGreymon in his plan at the moment, Qilinmon was forced to come up a new method of defeating this robot. Looking around, he saw that WarGrowlmon was probably the only other Digimon among them that could pierce the robot's armor at their current level of strength. Only physical attacks seemed to work against it, and WarGrowlmon had the sharpest blade.

While everyone looked on in worry, Nero ran over to where DoruGreymon and Lillithmon were so he could keep stay close to his partner. He too cried out for his partner.

DoruGreymon growled as he stood up, Lillithmon still snickering and telling him that he was right where wanted him. She created an ominous dark mist around them, forcing the dragon Digimon to quickly escape before feeling any effects of it. Lillithmon darted after him and acted as if she were going to strike with her right hand again. This time, however, she quickly changed to her left arm and grabbed hold of his horn with her hand. The gem on DoruGreymon's forehead began glowing as he thought about charging his DAV attack into her at point-blank range.

"I don't think so!" she snorted, swinging at the glowing gem and hitting it with her Nazar Nail.

The attack did not damage DoruGreymon, but a clank sound could be heard as the impact was made. DoruGreymon shook his head free and winced in pain as the gem was struck. Nero watched closely with unblinking eyes, wondering if Lillithmon was attempting to do what he thought she was. Lillithmon grinned devilishly as realized that she was right; even though DoruGreymon had not been injured with the strike, he was still sensitive in that area. AS DoruGreymon shook his head some more and was back to normal, Lillithmon lunged at him with her decayed arm swinging forward. He jumped back to avoid it, but the evil Digimon quickly came after him and swung again. DoruGreymon once again blocked the attack with the horn on his head, but this time Lillithmon continued driving her arm forward and managed to hit the gem with the point of the Nazar Nail. Poison from the tip dropped onto the gem, stinging DoruGreymon horribly as he moved his head and wings to wipe it off. Lillithmon chuckled and struck him with her left arm, sending him plummeting towards the ground.

"Damn!" shouted Nero. "She really is aiming for it!"

"Aiming for what?" Andrew questioned, overhearing him from a short distance away.

Meanwhile, the other Digimon were busy aiming their fury of attacks at the robot's arm. The robot had managed to protect the area by avoiding the attacks altogether, but was soon forced to use both hands to stop WarGrowlmon, whom had charged during the confusion and brought both axe-like blades on his arms down on the robot. WarGrowlmon was completely overpowered, but he had managed to buy enough time for the others to strike the open wound. AeroVeedramon blasted the wound with and energy attack, MetalGreymon fired missile from his chest at it, and HisyaRumon turned into a blade and drove into it. Mummy was busy holding back the robot's arms with his bandages in to help WarGrowlmon out. The attacks managed to disable the robots machine gun, and its left arm no longer worked properly, but it still managed to break free of Mummymon's grasp and throw WarGrowlmon into HisyaRumon. The robot soon fired missiles at the other three Digimon, forcing them to dodge. Qilinmon landed not too far from Andrew, able to hear both him and Nero.

Because Lillithmon was so much faster than Belphemon, and since nobody else was around to help him, all DoruGreymon could do was try his best to dodge.

"His Digi-Core!" answered Nero, not really paying attention to who was asking the question.

"Digi-Core?" wondered Ana, not familiar with the term. She was close enough to hear as well.

"Think of a Digi-Core as a human heart and brain combined," Nero explained, seeing how hard DoruGreymon was struggling not to get hit. "Most Digimon have their cores inside of them, but some, like Dorumon, have them outside their body. Because of the vulnerability, they are given extra defense stats in that area. Actually inflicting damage on a core is like trying to break a diamond! They're self-repairing artifacts, so to destroy one it'd have to be in one powerful blow."

What Nero didn't mention to them was that if a Digi-Core was destroyed without inflicting a fatal wound upon the Digimon itself, the Digimon would not be able to be reborn as an egg.

Qilinmon knew what Nero had not mentioned, being a Digimon himself, and after realizing that DoruGreymon was in trouble, decided to inform the others so they could try and take out the robot as soon as possible and help out. Nero wasn't too worried about Lillithmon actually destroying it, but if DoruGreymon was hit with a powerful enough strike and forced to de-digivolve, he would be in serious trouble.

Lillithmon had done a good job of tiring DoruGreymon out, even though she had wasted too much of her own. Deciding it was now or never, Lillithmon's Nazar Nail began to glow with a black aura. DoruGreymon finally managed to gather the energy to unleash his Metal Meteor upon her, though the Digimon cut through it with relative ease. The Digi-Core began to glow mere seconds before Lillithmon struck it. DoruGreymon fell hard to the ground, squirming in pain before reverting to his Rookie-level stage of Dorumon.

"That accursed program!" Lillithmon grumbled. "It made me miss!"

Dorumon steadily got to his feet, and Lillithmon decided to give it another go. Nero told Dorumon to watch out, but Dorumon was hit hard by Lillithmon, the sharp nail actually cracking the Digi-Core. However, this time, instead of poison pouring out, Lillithmon inserted some of the virus' power into the core before it healed itself up. She had managed to infect Dorumon. Dorumon was thrown backwards by the force of the attack and landed on his back, twitching violently.

"Dorumon!" Nero yelled worriedly, rushing over to his partner's side. He leaned down next to him and began shaking him. Dorumon's mind was struggling to resist the virus' influence, but unlike last time, this time he had been infected directly in his Digi-Core. "This is just like before!" Nero remembered the first time he came to the Digital World. "Dorumon needed my help, and I couldn't do anything for him!"

"Hey, he might survive," Lillithmon cackled from behind. "All he has to do is give in to my master."

"You wench!" was all Nero said, not even turning to face her.

Both Nero and Lillithmon suddenly turned their heads as they heard something approach. A missile fired by the robot had done off-course after AeroVeedramon dodged it without the Digimon realizing who was behind him. It hit the ground behind Nero, engulfing him and Dorumon in explosion.

"Stop, you idiot!" Lillithmon shouted to the robot, turning back to Nero and Dorumon. The robot stopped moving entirely and the evil Digimon began to panic, looking around frantically as she thought about what the virus would do to her. "This isn't good! If something happened to Lord Yggdrasil, killing me would be something merciful!"

When the smoke cleared, Nero was seen with his body covering Dorumon, shielding him from the debris caused by the explosion. During the smokescreen, a huge piece of dirt clonked Nero in the head, knocking him out cold. The explosion had also burned Nero's back. Dorumon slowly opened his eyes and saw Nero lying on top of him.

"L-Lord Yggdrasil…" he uttered, leaning up despite the pain. Nero's unconscious body slid off him, landing softly on the ground. "Yggdrasil…" Dorumon witnessed the burn on Nero's back, but due to slightly blurred vision, mistook it for something much worse. "Nero!"

The Digimon who were fighting the robot stopped as it ceased entirely. They heard Dorumon calling out to Nero and were worried that they had spent too much time fighting it.

A tear slid down Dorumon's cheek as the Digi-Core finished repairing itself, the color now pitch black.

"I swore…" he growled, the same dark aura that surrounded Lillithmon's arm shrouding his image. "I swore…that if any of you hurt Nero…"

An evil presence filled the air, and the Digimon quickly grabbed their partners and fled.

"What are you doing?" Hikaru asked HisyaRumon as she grabbed him and flew off.

"We're getting out of here!" she responded.

"What about Nero and Dorumon?" Alex asked AeroVeedramon.

"That's who we're trying to get away from!" AeroVeedramon informed, sounding really scared for a change.

Alex looked back at the duo, wondering what was happening. Dorumon stood up and glared menacingly at Lillithmon, his fur standing on end and making his form look more feral than ever.

"I swore that if any of you even touched Nero…" he roared loudly, the energy aura and look in his eyes scaring Lillithmon. "I would kill you! And anyone who dares to get in my way!"


	25. Chapter 24: Death X Digivolution!

**Chapter 24: Dorumon's Anger, Death-X Digivolution?!**

Dorumon growled menacingly at Lillithmon, taking a single step forward. As Dorumon stepped forward, Lillithimon took a step back, her arms bent in a position showing off her fear. The dark aura surrounding Dorumon spiked, engulfing the Digimon completely in a flame as his Digi-Color unleashed a black light.

Meanwhile, in the virus' chamber, the virus opened its eyes and began shaking violently. DemiDevimon flew over the pillar of light after locking BlackGabumon back in his original room at his master's request.

"Master, what is it?" the small Digimon asked. "What's wrong?"

"I knew this was bad idea," the virus replied, still shaking. The mysterious creature could sense when his power was being used by his minions, and because Lillithmon had infected Dorumon, Dorumon was now using his power.

"Did Lillithmon fail?" DemiDevimon wondered. "Did Dorumon become even more powerful?"

"No, she got him," the virus answered. "Damn! This is why I didn't want to give her so much of my power! I wanted to wait until I could see how BlackGabumon would react to it before testing it on someone as powerful as him."

Dorumon emerged from the black flame, now in his Champion-level form. However, something was different about him. Dorugamon's body was now covered in bluish-black metallic armor, several electrical wires sticking out at the point of his tail. His arms and legs were covered in silver cage-like armor, and his face was covered with an iron mask. His claws and nails were sharper than ever, and his eyes were an angry red color.

"Is that Dorugamon?" Alex wondered, still in AeroVeedramon's arms after being moved to a safe distance so they could watch from the air.

And took out here Digivice and looked down at the strange form of Dorugamon.

"This is weird," she stated. "The Digivice actually has some info on this. It says his name is DexDorugamon, an Undead-type Digimon of the virus attribute. Those wires are what keep him alive, and his energy is, um…" Ana stopped reading for a brief second, gulping as she found it difficult to believe. "His energy is obtained from devouring the Digi-Cores of other Digimon! You never want to be near is Metal Cast or Cannon Ball attacks!"

The others all looked on in disbelief, the Digimon now even gladder that they were farther away. With humans growing increasingly worried about Nero, Qilinmon began trying to think of a way to safely get him away from the danger below.

Lillithmon, too scared to risk a frontal attack, immediately ordered the robot to attack DexDorugamon, forgetting all about Nero. DexDorugamon on the other hand had not forgotten about Nero and stood his ground as the robot raised its arm and released three missiles, one right after the other, at him. DexDorugamon jumped into the air, grabbing one of the missiles with his bare hands and twirling around in place, letting go of it and redirecting it at another missile. The two missiles exploded on contact with one another, but there was still one left. DexDorugamon dove at the last missile, shredding it with his claws as he passed right by it without receiving any injury. The missile exploded behind him; Nero was still safe.

"Whoa!" everyone watching gasped.

"You…!" DexDorugamon roared in a dark, creepy voice. "You dare to put his life in more danger?!?! I'll hurt you so bad that you'll be begging me for a quicker death! Then I'll tear your Digi-Core straight from corpse and devour it before you can even blink an eye!!!"

The ominous aura surrounding DexDorguamon spiked once again, engulfing him another black flame. As everyone else looked upon the scene in horror, Nero began to stir. His eyes slowly opened as pushed himself to his hands and knees, his back experiencing a burning pain. He irked in pain as he turned his head after hearing heavy stomping. Soon DexDorugamon emerged from the flame in his next-level form. It resembled that of DoruGreymon, only his body was completely black, while his hair and wings were a blood-red color. His muzzle now looked like a skeleton skull, and his horn resembled a saw. His tail had split into several red ones, but they wrapped around a silver tail to form a single point.

"Is that…?" thought Nero after witnessing the sight.

"He digivolved again!" Hikaru pointed out.

"Now he's DexDoruGreymon," Ana reported, her Digivice still out. "The information about him is similar to his previous form. He's an Undead-type Digimon of the virus attribute that seeks out the Digi-Cores of other Digimon in order to further his strength. His Bloody Cave and Metal Meteor attacks should be avoided at all times!"

Nero stood up as DexDoruGreymon took heavy steps towards the robot, which retaliated by firing more missiles at the Digimon. The Digimon responded to the action by knocking them away with tail, not even caring where they landed this time. Fortunately, nobody was in the line of fire. Before the robot could act again, DexDoruGreymon lunged at the robot and jammed his horn into its chest, ripping it free and taking a huge chunk of metal with it. As the robot's internal mechanics lay exposed, the Digimon began attacking it wildly with his claws, shredding it to pieces.

"All that effort we took," MetalGreymon uttered. "And he did it in two attacks!"

"Did you think of anything to get Nero to safety?" Andrew asked Qilinmon.

"We can't do anything yet," answered Qilinmon. "Nero's still too close to them!"

"Hey, he's awake!" Alex shouted, pointing over to where was. "AeroVeedramon, let's go!"

"Alex, wait!" Hikaru called. Alex ignored him as AeroVeedramon headed in their direction. "Damn! HisyaRumon!"

"Yes, Hikaru-sama!" his partner replied, flying after them.

While DexDoruGreymon was distracted after taking out the robot, Lillithmon charged at him with her Nazar Nail aimed forward. DexDoruGreymon countered with his horn like before, but when Lillithmon tried to push herself forward and strike his Digi-Core, DexDoruGreymon brought up his tail and slammed it hard into her, hurling her away wih a violent impact into the ground.

"Metal Meteor!" he yelled in a dark voice, spewing a large metallic fireball at the evil Digimon.

Lilithmon managed to get up and leap away from the blast in the nick of time, but had little time to react as DexDoruGreymon flew towards her with amazing speed.

"We'll continue this some other time at the Floating Temple Island!" Lillithmon announced and pointed towards Nero. "In the meantime, I suggest you keep Lord Yggdrasil safe from them!"

DexDoruGreymon came to a halt as he turned his head to see Alex and AeroVeedramon heading towards Nero. Blinded by anger, he didn't recognize them and mistook them for a threat. He immediately changed direction and identified the two as his new target. Lillithmon cackled evilly as she disappeared from sight, taking one last look at was once the robot.

"Hey, Nero!" Alex called, waving to him from AeroVeedramon.

Nero noticed that DesDoruGreymon had stopped pursuing Lillithmon and changed his course. He understood why the moment he heard Alex's voice and turned around to see her approaching.

"Alex!" shouted Nero. "Get out of here! Now!"

AeroVeedramon alerted his partner to the approaching danger and braced himself, knowing he couldn't escape from DexDoruGreymon in his condition. They were already right next to Nero at nearly ground level. DexDoruGreymon charged head-on, his horn aimed directly at AeroVeedramon. Nero called out for his partner to stop, but he ignored him.

"Alex!" Hikaru cried out as he and HisyaRumon came between them, ready to intercept DexDoruGreymon's attack.

DexDoruGreymon didn't care who it was, all he knew was that he didn't want them near Nero. He continued charging until his horn made contact with something. Hikaru, HisyaRumon, Alex, and AeroVeedramon all gasped as DexDoruGreymon's horn soon had fresh, warm blood dripping from his horn. DexDoruGreymon's eyes showed signs of horror as he saw Nero with a deep gash on his shoulder and his horn placed just above the wound.

"Please, Dorumon…" Nero pleaded, wincing in pain. "Stop this! They're your friend! Don't you recognize them?"

DexDoruGreymon stammered back, his eyes focusing on the horn that was covered with his own partner's blood.

"L-Lord Yggdrasil…" he stuttered. "I… I…"

Nero collapsed to the ground and grabbed his shoulder, the boy in extreme pain. Alex hopped down from AeroVeedramon and rushed over to him, as did Hikaru. The others called out to them from the air, quickly descending towards them.

DexDoruGreymon let out a shriek of horror and buried his head into his forelimbs. The Digimon and Nero's Digivice began to glow as he reverted back to his Rookie-level form of Dorumon. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he thought about what he had done.

"Dorumon," called Nero weakly. "It's okay."

Dorumon looked up to see his partner smiling at him and turned away, unable to face him. Dorumon refused to make eye contact or even speak to Nero the entire night. In fact, he even stayed out of hearing distance because he was afraid he would hear Nero say something about him.

With Nero bandaged up and the Digimon on the road to recovery, the group of humans couldn't help but question Nero about what happened to Dorumon. It wasn't like other Digimon that had been infected by the virus; there was actually data on his forms.

"First of all, keep in mind that when I created this game, it was not with the intention that the Digimon would become real," Nero explained. "When I created Dorumon, I wanted him to be the strongest Digimon, which meant I had to give him the ability to digivolve with any attribute. I called his virus forms his 'Death' forms and they were based off his data digivolution stages. However, once I found out that the Digimon were real, I erased the part of the coding that allowed Dorumon to use them. They were jus far too powerful, and far too dangerous. I was afraid that Dorumon would hurt himself or someone he shouldn't."

"Wait!" said Andrew. "If you erased the coding, then how did he digivolve into them?"

"It must have been when Dorumon was infected," Nero answered, glancing off towards his partner in the distance. "The anti-virus program, which I call the 'X-Antibody,' is supposed to fight against the virus and even prevent Dorumon from being infected. Because Lillithmon infected Dorumon, Dorumon couldn't react while the program tried to do its job. We all know how protective Dorumon is of me. My guess is that when Dorumon saw me injured, his feelings caused the program to temporarily disable itself and allowed the virus to overcome him. I don't know how exactly, but it must have somehow replaced the code and created a 'Death-X' form, or something the X-Antibody tried to prevent."

"So, should we be afraid of him or something?" Veemon wondered, remembering the description of Dorumon's virus forms.

"No," Nero assured, smiling a bit. "Remember when my Digivice started glowing earlier? If it's like the first time Dorumon was infected, then it forced the program to go into overdrive and cured Dorumon."

"Hold on," Zaki said. "You said that Dorumon's virus forms were based off his data ones. If Dorumon has an anti-virus program, shouldn't he be using his vaccine forms?"

"That would make sense," Nero chuckled. "It is true that his vaccine digivolution stages would increase the power of the X-Antibody, but it doesn't mean it can't be used with his other attributes. His data forms give him the greatest balance of power, speed, defense, etc. To be honest, I originally planned for Dorumon to use his vaccine forms. His emotions, though, overpower his desire to complete his mission, and therefore cause him to take the forms that best suit him for protecting me. Unless Dorumon stops being so overprotective of me, the X-Antibody will never be at is strongest."

Dorumon looked back for a brief second, giving Nero a glimpse of how truly awful Dorumon felt about hurting him. Dorumon didn't even join them for dinner. Once everyone fell asleep, Nero took the opportunity to approach him.

"Are you okay, Dorumon?" he questioned as he sat down beside him.

"I should be asking you that," responded Dorumon. "I hurt you! I'm a failure as a partner."

"That's not true, Dorumon," Nero told him, extending an arm and petting him on the head. "It's not like you did it on purpose. Besides, this wound is nothing, and you've saved me a few times already. You're a great partner, and my best friend! I wouldn't trade you for any other Digimon!"

"You're my best friend too," Dorumon replied, leaning into the petting. "But I don't want to hurt you ever again! That's why I've decided… I'll never digivolve again!"

"WHAT?!" Nero exclaimed, his voice loud enough to wake the others up. "Dorumon, you can't do that! What about your mission?"

"I'll find another way to complete it," Dorumon stated firmly, leaning away from Nero and looking off into the distance.

"Do you honestly think you have the strength to defeat the virus as a Rookie?" Nero yelled, more worried than angry. Dorumon didn't answer, remaining completely silent. "Do you?! You saw how strong Belphemon and Lillithmon were!"

Aimi, being the youngest and least like to understand, got up and started to approach. Alex reached out and grabbed her arm, telling her just to let them be.

"Anyway, Lillithmon told me where she ran off to," Dorumon announced. "I remember that much. She said to face her at the Floating Temple Island."

Nero sighed and realized that Dorumon wouldn't change his mind tonight, and probably wouldn't digivolve unless he was in danger. Still, Nero would never put his own life in danger on purpose, not only because he wasn't so foolish, but also because he didn't want to do something like that to Dorumon. After noticing the others were awake, Nero stood up and walked over to them so they could discuss the next course of action. Dorumon remained where he was.

"I know that was a mistake," he admitted to himself. "I just can't risk hurting Nero. I have to protect him, but how can I do that if I'm the one who is a threat?"

The next morning, Dorumon did join the others for breakfast, but he didn't really say anything. Nero had told the others about Dorumon's foolish decision, but they spoke nothing of it. Nero wondered if perhaps the other Digimon could comfort him and convince him to allow himself to digivolve.

Meanwhile, inside the temple Lillithmon had spoken to the virus from before, Lillithmon once again made contact with her master.

"You have some nerve contacting me after that pitiful display!" the virus grumbled. "I see now an even bigger threat instead of none! And, rather than stay and try to get him under my control or dispose of him, you fled!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Lillithmon stuttered in fear. "You don't have to worry though, master! I told them to come here, and I'm certain they will!"

"Very well," the virus sighed. "Make sure you dispose of everyone except Lord Yggdrasil!"

"You mean you don't want Dorumon anymore?" questioned the female Digimon.

"No," answered the virus. "Lord Yggdrasil's interaction with him caused that accursed anti-virus program to reactivate and neutralize my power. I'm not going to risk letting you use any more of power to infect him if I can't even control him. Don't fail me this time!"

Lillithmon promised she would succeed and the transmission was cut. While Lillithmon awaited the arrival of Nero and the others, the virus gave DemiDevimon an order. "Send word to Beelzemon that his services will be needed after all. Also, inform Daemon that I am requesting his presence. I have another task for him."

"There's no need to contact me!" Beelzemon announced, stepping into the chamber as DemiDevimon took off. "I just stopped by to give my report on the two humans in my sector already. You needn't worry… I've judged their strength already based on my observations."

"Good!" the virus commented. "You may be the most unpredictable of the lot of you, but your skills in judging the strength of others has been invaluable to me so far."

"Whatever," Beelzemon replied, turning away. "Since I've given my report and know Lillithmon will fail. I'll be going now."

Elsewhere, a few hours had passed and Nero's group now stood at the bay, looking off towards Floating Temple Island in the distance as an ominous wind blew past them.


	26. Chapter 25: Alphamon's Holy Sword

**Chapter 25: Fear Into Courage! Alphamon's Holy Sword**

The bay area where Nero and the others were currently was the home of a small set of docks. However, despite the fact that the area was sparsely populated in the game, the group still had to be cautious about the amount of players accessing the boats. The group took refuge outside one of the docks with less player-controlled Digimon visiting it. None of them were going to the island, since normal players couldn't access it, so it was assumed that they were simply taking them out for in-game quests that involved them.

After about an hour of waiting, the group caught a break, and, to avoid being seen, had Nero, Andrew, and Ana go with their partners. They hoped the fewer numbers would be better for staying out of sight, but large enough to protect themselves from any surprise attack. The humans entered the small wooden structure to talk with the owner about renting a large enough boat to take to the island, while the Digimon stayed outside to keep watch. Figuring it to be a good opportunity, Guilmon and Kudamon decided to talk to Dorumon about his reckless decision.

"You really should rethink your decision, Dorumon," said Kudamon. "It's quite illogical."

"He's right, Dorumon," Guilmon added. "You need to digivolve! It's the only way you'll be strong enough to defeat the virus." 

"I'm not digivolving," Dorumon stated looking away from both of them. "If I hurt Lord Yggdrasil in the process, then I'm not going to risk using that power."

"It was an accident!" Kudamon told him.

"No, it wasn't!" Dorumon responded, closing his eyes very tightly. "I charged at Alex and AeroVeedramon with the full intention of killing them. They knew I was dangerous and wanted to get him to safety…and I went and attacked them for trying to help him. Had it not been for Lord Yggdrasil, I would have probably killed four of my friends. And who knows what would have happened if continued?"

Although the two Digimon were only trying to help Dorumon, they realized that they made him feel force by forcing him to remember he event. Dorumon was crying.

"That's why I made that decision! If I don't digivolve, then I'll never be strong enough to hurt anyone ever again! I know how vulnerable that makes me, but I have no other alternative."

Before the Digimon could continue discussion on the topic, Nero, Ana and Andrew came out from the small shack with news.

"We've got ourselves a boat," Nero announced, holding up his hand to signal the others to come over.

They boarded the small boat-shaped vessel, barely big enough for the entire group, and began their short voyage to the Floating Temple Island. As they travelled across the water, they could see various boats full of other player-controlled heading off towards various destinations. Nero did not care if they were spotted at this point, since a player could never tell what other Digimon were on a boat that they were not on.

The group quickly approached the final part of the trip, and was heading straight for the small whirlpool underneath the island. Nero giggled a bit when he saw everyone else in the boat panicking at the sight of it.

"There's no need to be worried," he informed everyone. "Just sit tight and don't leave the boat."

Inside the temple, Lillithmon was waiting patiently for her expected guests when she saw the pathway just outside the entrance to the temple start to glow blue before turning into water.

"They're here," she said with a sinister grin.

The boat carrying the group of children and Digimon continued on its course towards the whirlpool. However, the moment it touched the spinning vortex, the boat was suddenly carried off by a strong current away from the water. By looking below the boat, one could see a pathway of water leading up into the air and around the island. The stream carried them several laps around the chunk of floating land before finally stopping right in front of the temple. The group felt a weird sensation as they finally reached solid ground, as if they had passed through some kind of barrier. This led everyone, except Nero who already knew, to believe that some kind of force field would've prevented them from accessing the island without a boat.

The group stopped for a brief second on the edge of the island to look back at the bay area before looking back at the temple.

"All right, everyone, this is it!" Nero stated. "Is everyone ready? This'll be even tougher than our fight against Belphemon, since Lillithmon doesn't have a major weakness like he did."

Lillithmon was, in truth, weaker than Belphemon, and the Digimon had gotten stronger over the course of their journey. Nero didn't want to say that the real reason it would be so much tougher was because Dorumon wouldn't be much of a help to them.

"Our best shot for defeating her is to have all of you weaken her to the point that Dorumon's DAV attack should be able to work on a Digimon of her level."

The Digimon all nodded their heads as the Digivices of their human partners began to glow. The Digimon all digivolved to their Ultimate-level forms, except for Dorumon, and stood outside the temple door. Nero looked over at his partner, whom had yet to digivolve.

"Maybe you should stay out here until we need you."

"N-No!" Dorumon responded a bit hesitantly. "I want to come with you!"

"Very well," Nero sighed. "However, if you're going to insist on not digivolving, then you are not to get involved, no matter what happens, until I say so. Is that clear, Dorumon?"

"Y-Yes, Lord Yggdrasil sir," replied Dorumon in a sullen tone.

Nero knew he was being harsh on Dorumon, but he didn't want Dorumon, the only one with ability to actually defeat the virus, to get himself killed, especially if he wasn't even going to try and use his full strength.

The group finally stepped inside the large temple, and after walking about halfway into it, encountered the evil Digimon.

"So you decided to come after all?" she cackled cockily, looking at the Digimon and noticing that Dorumon was still a Rookie. "What have we here? Don't tell me that Dorumon now thinks he's so strong that he can defeat me without even digivolving?"

"Not quite," AeroVeedramon chuckled. "He just thinks that you're so weak that he doesn't even have to get involved in this fight. We should be more than enough for the likes of you!"

Dorumon looked up AeroVeedramon, the Digimon who was always trying to surpass him in something. He was amazed that he was protecting him by trying to make them the focus of Lillithmon's attacks.

"Is that so?" Lillithmon growled, clenching her left hand into a fist. "Well then… I guess I should take out all of you as quickly as possible and show that bastard what happens when you underestimate me!"

Lillithmon lunged at AeroVeedramon so suddenly that he had no time to react. She slammed into him and pinned him to the ground, raising her Nazar Nail and ready to dig it into his flesh. MetalGreymon quickly tackled her in an attempt to get her off of AeroVeedramon. He didn't bother using a projectile attack because he was afraid of injuring his friend. Lillithmon managed to knock MetalGreymon away from her by striking him with her left arm, only to find HisyaRumon charging right at her as a sword.

The evil Digimon attempted to counter the attack by blocking it with her Nazar Nail, managing to stop the dragon inches away from her face. She threw HisyaRumon away from her, but was struck by a surprise attack from WarGrowlmon's Atomic Blasters. Lillithmon was blasted into the east temple wall.

"You'll pay for that!" she grumbled as she slowly pulled herself out of the rubble.

Closer inspection would reveal that Lillithmon had taken little to no damage from the attack, and that she was only just starting to get serious. The evil Digimon glanced around the temple room, trying to determine her next target. After looking over all of the Digimon, se began to grin evilly.

"Prepare yourselves!" warned Qilinmon, whom had just finished relaying a plan to the others.

When Lillithmon began creating a dark mist in the area of the room, Qilinmon immediately countered the attack with his Hyper Radiance. The aura of light he created caused the smoke to dissipate, but Lillithmon was nowhere to be seen. 

"Qilinmon, above you!" Andrew shouted.

Qilinmon was caught off-guard when Lillithmon dropped down from above and onto his back. She grabbed hold of his wings and forced him to the ground.

"You're quite the nuisance if I remember correctly," she cackled, pulling at his wings. "Maybe without these things you'll be less of a problem!"

Qilinmon let out a cry of pain as Lillithmon tugged at his wings, seemingly trying to rip them off. The Digimon all stood and watched, unsure about what to do. If they didn't do something, Qilinmon would be in big trouble, but if they attacked wrongly, they might make things even worse. Dorumon growled and took a step forward, but Nero grabbed at his tail.

"No!" he told him.

"But…" Dorumon responded.

"What exactly could you do about it in your current state?" Nero scowled, trying to make Dorumon understand why he needed to digivolve. "You'd only make things worse! If they can barely scratch her as Ultimates, what can a Rookie do?"

Dorumon only growled as he admitted defeat to Nero and resumed watching the fight. HisyaRumon took the initiative to try and rescue Qilinmon by transforming into a blade once again. However, this time, instead of aiming for Lillithmon's body, she aimed for her left arm. To avoid having her arm severed, Lillithmon let go of Qilinmon's left wing. Qilinmon quickly moved around and threw Lillithmon off of him, flapping his wings a bit to make sure they were okay.

"Are you alright?" questioned WarGrowlmon.

"Yeah, thanks to HisyaRumon," Qilinmon answered, sighing with relief. "That was close!"

HisyaRumon resumed her original appearance, only to have her backside grabbed by Lillithmon and chucked towards the other Digimon. She was helpless to stop her movement as she was hurled into the others, knocking over AeroVeedramon and MetalGreymon.

"Are you sure she isn't as strong as Belphemon?" MetalGreymon moaned.

"She seems plenty strong to me!" AeroVeedramon said.

"Oh, just stop complaining already," HisyaRumon groaned as she got off the two of them.

Alex, Aimi, and Hikaru all called out to their partners, asking if they were okay. The three all responded positively, though they were getting nowhere fast.

"Snake Bandage!" Mummy shouted, throwing his arm forward and sending several coils to wrap around Lillithmon's body.

The evil Digimon smirked and allowed herself to be tied up, raising her arms up a little and grabbing hold of the wrappings.

"Atomic Blaster!" yelled WarGrowlmon, unleashing two charged-up energy blasts at her.

Lillithmon tightened her grip on the wrappings on yanked on them, pulling Mummymon forward with a powerful jolt and directly into the line of fire. WarGrowlmon could not stop this and ended up striking Mummymon.

"Mummymon!" Zaki cried out.

Dorumon could barely bring himself to look on as an injured Mummymon was dragged helplessly towards Lillithmon, stopping a couple feet away from her.

"Dorumon, can't you see that they need your help!" Zaki begged Nero's partners.

"I can't do it!" Dorumon stated, closing his eyes tightly. "I can't digivolve! If I do, I'll hurt everyone!"

"So what!" Nero retorted, receiving a shocked look from Dorumon. "I got hurt, big deal! Dorumon, I didn't come to the Digital World with the intention of never being put in harm's way! I know how much danger I'm always in, and I know I'm always at risk of being hurt or worse!"

"But I…!" Dorumon tried to respond.

"Dorumon!" HisyaRumon called, approaching the group. "Listen, it's true that you hurt Lord Yggdrasil, and that hurting your partner is unforgiveable! However, if you continue to let things go on like this, we'll all be hurt for sure! Maybe you will lose control again, but that's not guaranteed! If you don't digivolve, everyone will be in danger,; that much is a fact! Lillithmon is not fighting us the same way Belphemon did! She's aiming to kill us all!"

With those words said, HisyaRumon joined the other Digimon in charging towards Lillithmon, who was getting ready to finish off Mummymon.

"Dorumon, what is your mission?" Nero suddenly asked.

Dorumon looked up at him, then at the group. "To destroy the virus at any cost."

"Right, at any cost," Nero reminded. "If that means I have to get hurt to help you succeed, then so be it! Dorumon, if you want to accomplish that mission, then you must stop caring only about my safety, and think about what must be done. Nobody can do this alone! We need all of the help we can get. And right now, your friends need you! Fight for all of us, not just for me! Stop being so overprotective."

Dorumon continued to look back and forth between Nero, the group, and the Digimon. He closed his eyes tightly once more and realized that Nero was right. Nero had come to the Digital World to save him after all, and if he couldn't do what he promised Nero, then really was a failure of a partner.

Meanwhile, Lillithmon was laughing maniacally as she raised her Nazar Nail and prepared to bring it down on Mummymon.

"This will end it!" she cackled.

Lillithmon thrust the Nazar Nail downward towards Mummymon, but instead the sound of the claw piercing through flesh, a metallic clank sound was heard. Standing over Mummymon was DoruGreymon, whom had blocked the nail with the horn on his head.

"You…!" Lillithmon cursed.

DoruGreymon bucked his head up and caused Lillithmon to lose her balance before slapping her with his tail, sending her back a bit. The other Digimon stopped in their tracks, surprised by DoruGreymon's sudden appearance.

"I'm sorry, everyone," he apologized to the others. "I should've helped you from the beginning!"

The dragon Digimon saw Lillithmon coming towards him and used his Metal Meteor attack to fire a large projectile at her. Lillithmon jabbed the Nazar Nail into it, shattering the iron ball, and continued on direct course to DoruGreymon. DoruGreymon's eyes focused on the nail, realizing that she was aiming at his Digi-Core, only this time she was planning on destroying it. She was coming much too fast for DoruGreymon to get out of the way. Fortunately, MetalGreymon intercepted the attack with his Metal Claw and flung her back.

"You okay?" he wonderd.

"Yeah, thanks!" answered DoruGreymon. "I'm not sure about Mummymon though."

The other Digimon gazed down at Mummymon, who was so weak that he was forced to revert back to his Rookie-level form of PawnChessmon. AeroVeedramon picked him up and set down next to the humans. Zaki was glad that PawnChessmon was still with him, thanks to DoruGreymon.

DoruGreymon gritted his teeth as he and the other Digimon entered a stare-down with Lillithmon. The other Digimon were all incredibly tired from the battle, and Lillithmon still had too much strength left for him to take down alone. He needed the power he had before, that much he knew, but he didn't want to risk hurting anyone again.

"If only…" he thought. "If only I could control that power! But if I rely on it, then I'll…" DoruGreymon's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the remembrance of the conversation he had just had with Nero and HisyaRumon. "That's right… I have to do it! If I don't, then everyone going to die!"

DoruGreymon shouted the last part aloud, receiving surprised looks from everyone. The dragon-like Digimon began to glow brightly, as did Nero's Digivice.

"No!" Lillithmon gasped.

Although everything happened very fast, time seemed to slow down in DoruGreymon's mind as he saw three silhouetted form before him. Two of them looked more like dragons, while the third was more human-like. He looked back and worth between the three. He could sense that one of the dragon figures was calling out to him, his virus form, but he knew in his heart that it wasn't right. He began heading towards his data attribute form, one with a more equal level of power and defense. Just as he was about to make contact with it, he remembered Nero telling him about how he needed to accomplish his mission. DoruGreymon looked at his vaccine attribute form with a look of absilute certainty. He knew what he need to do.

"DoruGreymon digivolve to…" he yelled as his form took a more human-like shape. He now stood upright, and was covered from head to toe in black armor with golden outlines. A large blue cape flowed freely behind him, while his Digi-Core remained positions on his forehead. His armor had several various engravings on it, and two armor-coated black wings with golden feather extended from his back. "Alphamon!"

"That's it, Dorumon!" Nero said softly as gazed in awe at the sight.

"Damn you!" Lillithmon spat, gritting her teeth and lunging at the Digimon. "I've come too far to let you stop me now!"

Lillithmon slashed at Alphamon with her Nazar Nail, but the armor Alphamon wore was as hard as a Digi-Core and therefore could be penetrated so easily by the nail.

"Lord Yggdrasil was right," Alphamon spoke silently, just barely loud enough to hear. Two blue eyes pierced through the eye sockets of the helmet and stared at Lillithmon. "You are weaker than Belphemon!"

"WHAT!" gasped Lillithmon. "How dare you compare me to the likes of him!"

Lillithmon once again created a black mist surround them, but Qilinmon illuminated it with his Hyper Radiance. Alphamon didn't really need the help of the others to deal with her, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. Lillithmon began to comtemplate her situation. Even if she somehow could defeat Alphamon, she'd be far too weak to deal with even one Ultimate-level Digimon, let alone all of the ones standing before her.

"It's time for you to pay for everything you've done!" Alphamon declared, holding out his hand. "Holy Sword Grade Alpha!"

A large double-edged sword appeared in Alphamon's right hand, seemingly being summoned from out of nowhere.

"I have to get away!" Lillithmon thought, creating a black mist yet again to shroud herself.

Alphamon was not deterred by this effort and slashed his sword once, piercing through the mist and directly at Lillithmon. Lillithmon blocked the blade with her Nazar Nail, but the strength of Alphamon resulted in the nail being broken and wounding the evil Digimon. Lillithmon fell to the ground with a bleeding gash on her stomach region, holding the wound tightly. Alphamon stepped over her, his Digi-Core glowing brightly as he channeled the energy into his sword.

"Lillithmon, your treachery ends here!" Alphamon announced. "DAV Holy Judgment!"

As Alphamon launched his final attack at Lillithmon, everyone was left unaware that, through the same method Lillithmon had used to contact him, the virus watching everything.

(Note from the Author: I just wanted to thank everyone for their continued support of this fanfic! I really appreciate all of the views it has been getting and how many people seem to be enjoying it! With that being said, I would like to ask for some feedback every once in a while. I'm not asking for a review after every chapter, but I would like to know what people think of my story every now and then. Once again, thanks for all of your continued support!)


	27. Chapter 26: Leviamon's Concern

**Chapter 26: Leviamon's Concern**

Alphamon raised his sword high into the air, Lillithimon cowering before him and showing how weak she really was. Had he not seen the treachery Lillithmon had caused he may have considered sparing her, but he knew now that if he did let her go, she would not change her ways. He brought the sword down hard, slashing the evil Digimon across the chest before the energy from the sword caused her whole body to disintegrate in bright white flash. As the flash dissipated, a lone egg hovered above a green crest that was now present on the ground with a symbol representing the moon. The crest shattered like glass and the egg landed safely on the ground.

His energy depleted, Alphamon reverted to his Rookie-level form of Dorumon. Since it was his first time digivolving to the Mega-level stage, he lacked the experience needed to conserve energy during the digivolution process. Dorumon approached his weakened comrades, whom were all in their Rookie stages as well and gathered near their partners.

"I'm sorry," he told all of them. "If I had only helped you from the start, none of this would have happened."

"It's all right," said Guilmon. "You just needed some time to recover from that injury you left in your heart."

"Lord Yggdrasil stocked up on plenty of healing disks, so we'll all be fine," Kudamon informed.

Dorumon didn't feel any better knowing that they would be fine, seeing how he wasn't fighting beside them at the time. PawnChessmon had been hurt the worst, but even told Dorumon that everything would be alright.

"Aw, how touching!" an evil voice echoed throughout the large and specious room.

Everyone immediately turned their heads to see a single pillar of light with a small, unrecognizable figure inside it. The creature's body could not even be seen this time, only his blue eyes.

"And to think that these are the guys I was so worried about…"

"Damn it!" cursed Dorumon, rearing his head back. "You're the virus!"

Dorumon fired several projectiles from his mouth at the virus, only to have them pass right through hm.

"Dorumon, calm down!" Nero said to his partner, anger present in his voice now that the virus was before him. "It's just a hologram."

Dorumon grumbled to himself before growling at the virus. "So what the hell do you want?"

"I just wanted to see you all," the virus snickered. "Is that really a crime?"

"Your existence is a crime!" spat PawnChessmon, still weak from his wound.

"Why don't you stop sending your flunkies after us and show yourself?!" Veemon dared. "We've already shown that we can handle them! Or are you scared that Dorumon will kick your ass the same way he did Lillithmon's?"

The virus nearly broke out in laughter at Veemon's dare, while Dorumon felt flattered that Veemon was using his name in a respectful way. Everyone was curious as to why the virus was laughing, though they didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Your ignorance amuses me," he cackled. "You think that just because you defeated Belphemon and Lillithmon, you can take me on? Those two were weaklings compared to the others and myself! And as much as I'd love to meet you all in person, I'm afraid that I'm not quite presentable at the moment. Don't worry yourself though, we'll meet eventually… That is, if you survive that long!"

The virus' eyes suddenly began to glow a bright red color. The moment this happened, a stone slab fell from the ceiling directly over Dorumon. Dorumon's ears perked up, allowing him to hear it and jump back at the last second. The whole gang turned their heads upward, eyeing the cracking ceiling as bits of rubble began to fall all around them.

"Buh-bye!" said the virus as he disappeared from view.

With the group in the center area of the temple, there was quite a distance between them and the exit. The Digimon still able to fight used their abilities to blast away the falling debris as the entire group made a dash for the exit.

Elsewhere, farther up north, Leviamon lurked in an underwater cavern in a murky lake. The land surrounding the water was covered in dirty snow. Several dead-looking trees were evenly spaced apart all around the lake, each one containing an old gray rope tied around the trunk. Apparently, in the past, the lake used to be used for some kind of festival. If such a thing were true, Nero would probably be the one to know anything about it.

As Leviamon relaxed in a carefree manner in his lair, a merman-like Digimon poked his head into the air pocket through a small entrance that almost resembled a pool. The blue and white Digimon had a scuba tank on his back that did not contain air, but a propeller that allowed him to swim swiftly through the water. He also carried a harpoon.

The Digimon hopped out of the pool-like entrance and approached the larger Digimon, trembling a bit in the presence of the Demon Lord.

"Um, e-excuse m-me, L-Lord Leviamon," the Digimon stuttered, nervously.

"What is it, Divermon?" Leviamon grumbled, stirring. "Can't you see I'm trying to rest? This better be important!"

"W-Well, actually sir, it's about those humans we were keeping an eye on," replied Divermon. "I wanted t-to tell y-you that…"

"Ah, you've come to give a report then?" interrupted Leviamon. As Leviamon spoke, a small pillar of light appears next the evil Digimon, the virus' form present inside it. "Perfect timing!" Leviamon turned his entire body to the side so he could face the virus directly, although the virus' true appearance was still hidden quite well. "Greetings, master! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I just wanted to inform you that Lillithmon is no longer among us," the virus answered in a cold, uncaring voice.

"I guess that mean Beelzemon will stop whining now," Leviamon snickered. "Though what does this have to do with me?"

"I want to know the status the humans in your sector!" said the virus.

"Funny you should ask," the Demon Lord responded with a wide grin. "Divermon here was about to confirm how well my plan is working. By keeping the humans in the town and preventing their Digimon from digivolving, they'll soon be unable to take it and do anything to get out. Since I've made sure the only escape route is blocked off, I'll convince them that serving you is in their best interest."

The Divermon gulped and trembled at the sight of the virus, who glanced over at him.

"Very good!" the virus stated, disappearing soon after.

"Actually, Lord Leviamon, there's something I need to tell you! It's about the humans, they're-!" Divermon announced, pulling back and panicking after speaking out.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" roared Leviamon.

Divermon stepped back at Leviamon's outburst, too startled and worried about his own safety to speak.

"You realize I just told the master that everything was going according to plan, right?! If things are not exactly like they seem, I'm going to get it! And if I get in trouble, you can bet that you'll be the focus of my wrath!"

Divermon gulped again and bowed down before the outraged Digimon, apologizing and begging for forgiveness.

"Now tell me what happened! And you better not leave out any of the details!"

Divermon nodded his head and stood up, taking a moment to regain his composure. "Well, sir, it actually happened a few days ago…"

During that time, Sandra and Aaron were still stuck in the small town, unable to leave due to the only path leading out of the town being blocked by several layers of boulders and snow caused by an avalanche. However, the inhabitants of the town were running low on supplies due to the severe decrease in trade caused by the blockage. Even game players found themselves unable to enter the town by any method other than sea travel, though everyone just assumed it was just some in-game event.

With the growing need for trade and supplies, the Digimon of the town decided that they blockage needed to be cleared. None of the Digimon that lived there were higher than the Champion level, and none of the Champions were among the stronger group of Digimon at the same level. Therefore, clearing the area was not easiest of tasks.

The effort to clean up the avalanche area actually began a few days earlier, though a much smaller group of Digimon worked on the project at the time. However, when the equipment used began suddenly disappearing and/or getting vandalized, more Digimon were called in to work. To be on the safe side, a pink bird-like Digimon known as Biyomon was sent to fly another town and request a team of Drimogemon and other Digimon used for construction purposes to come and help out. However, neither the scout nor the team ever showed up.

It was around then that Aaron and Sandra overheard what could be considered the mayor of the town, Frigimon, asking for help from the other Digimon of the town. Frigimon was giant snowman-like Digimon in the form of a bear with two red buttons on its chest. Aaron glanced at his Digivice and became aware of the two signals heading in their direction. With the larger group heading further south, he and Sandra both came to the agreement that they needed to leave and decided to help with the project. That was when the trouble started.

Using shovels and pickaxes, along with the attacks of all of the Digimon who could use them to help with the matter, everything seemed to be going smoothly. However, about halfway into the day, the group of Digimon, and the two humans, was attacked by a trio of blue ogre-resembling Digimon. Each ogre carried a large icicle-like club and had ice crystals sticking out of their shoulders; long gray hair flowed from their heads down their back.

"We are the Hyogamon Brothers!" shouted one of them. "If any of you wish to live, leave here immediately! This is you first and only warning!"

"And who do you think you are to stop us?" Frigimon demanded to know, stepping forward to face the three.

"I won't say it again!" the Hyogamon growled, slamming his club into his open palm. "Leave now or you will be killed! Our orders were quite clear!"

"Subzero Ice Punch!" shouted Frigimon, throwing his right arm forward and shooting an icy blast at the trio. A wall of ice rose from the ground and blocked the ice, protecting the three Hyogamon. Frigimon brought his arm back to his side and glared angrily at the villainous Digimon. "I don't know who gave you these supposed orders, but I don't like them! You dare to threaten the innocents with death?!"

"You really want to die, don't you?" grumbled the eldest brother of the Hyogamon.

The three Hyogamon wasted no time to begin their assault, charging at Frigimon with the full intention of ending his life. The weaker Digimon all scattered and ran from the scene, not wanting to be a part of the fight. Some of the weaker Champion-level Digimon stayed to watch the fight and give support, but it would soon become apparent that they had no intention of getting involved.

Aaron's eyes shifted momentarily away from the fight towards Swimmon, whom nodded at him. Sandra glanced in the other direction at Dracmon beside her.

"Right," he said in a low voice.

Despite Frigimon's size and build, he was very nimble when it came to dodging all three of the Hogyamon. They swung at the snow Digimon with their clubs, none of them making contact. Finally, Frigimon managed to grab hold of one of them and used his Subzero Ice Punch to freeze it in place. He pushed the frozen Digimon away, though the other two only smirked.

"What are they smiling about?" Aaron wondered, watching the fight. His eyes widened as the frozen Hogyamon suddenly became unfrozen. He shouted out to Frigimon. "Look out!"

Frigimon turned his head in time to see the club coming, but it was too late to do anything. Using the pointed end of the club, Hyogamon struck Frigimon in back, resulting in a damaging wound that forced Frigimon to the ground. The Hyogamon had used an ability known as Re-Initialize, something that erased a status effect such as being forzen.

"You should have just done as we told you," the eldest Hyogamon cackled, raising his club into the air. "Now you're gonna die!"

Frigimon closed his eyes as the club was brought down, but was surprised when he felt nothing. He opened his eyes to se Dracmon in front of him, blocking the club with both of his hands.

"Brine Pistol!" Swimmon shouted, drawing in water from the snow and firing it as a stream at the Hyogamon Dracmon was holding back.

The Hyogamon stumbled back and fell on his rear, not expecting the surprise attack from Swimmon.

"Get them!" ordered the eldest brother, pointing his club at the duo.

Swimmon was easily able to outmaneuver the Hyogamon that attacked her; she used the like water and made it not only difficult to hit her, but difficult to even see her. Dracmon had a slightly more difficult time, being a larger target and less mobile. Dracmon still seemed able to dodge every swing of the club and every punch the Hyogamon threw, but soon the eldest brother created a wall of ice underneath Dracmon. Normally this attack was used for defensive purposes, but this time the rising ice caused Dracmon slip, giving Hyogamon a clean shot at him. The younger Hyogamon slammed a fist into Dracmon's body, hurling him backwards.

"Dracmon! No!" Sandra cried, worried for the safety of her partner.

While Dracmon was still in the air, the Hyogamon brought his club down onto Dracmon, causing blood to fly from his mouth and wound as he was slammed into the ground.

"This will end it!" the Hyogamon laughed, raising his club into the air.

Sandra cried out for her partner once again, closing her eyes tightly as a tear formed. Swimmon tried to help Dracmon, but the Hyogamon she was fighting created a wall of ice to block her path.

"S-Sandra…" Dracmon said in weak voice, realizing that he still had to protect her. Sandra's Digivice began to glow, shooting a beam of light at Dracmon. Dracmon suddenly felt re-energized. "Dracmon digivolve to…" he said as his body changed form. Dracmon became much larger and his body hunched over a bit. His mask had seemingly been ripped off, only bits and pieces of it remaining, revealing a blue vampire-like face. He also carried a large black scythe. "Scythemon!"

Dracmon's Champion-level form stood before the Hyogamon, Scythemon looking very ticked off. The eldest Hyogamon ordered his brother not to give in. Scythemon quickly jumped back to avoid an incoming club.

"Sandra, look!" Aaron said, grabbing her shoulder and pointing out at Scythemon.

Sandra opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of vampire-like Digimon. "Dracmon?"

The younger Hyogamon charged at Scythemon, though the Digimoun simply parried his club with his scythe, knocking it away from him.

"Too slow," said Scythemon, quickly bringing his scythe up and sticking it into the Hyogamon. "Scythe Strike Alpha!"

Scythemon immediately began twirling the blade around, destroying the ogre-like Digimon by tearing him to shreds. Soon the destroyed Digimon's data gathered into the form of an egg.

The manner in which Scythemon destroyed the Hyogamon scared Sandra; she couldn't believe that the vampire used to be the jokester she had grown to like being in the company of. Scythemon approached the eldest brother, growling at him in an evil voice.

"You made my partner cry!" he growled. The eldest brother shot several icicle-like blasts at Scythemon, whom simply blocked them with his weapon as he drew closer. "Now you'll die!"

Just as Scythemon was about to finish off the Hyogamon, his ears overheard Sandra telling him to stop.

"Please stop!" she begged.

"Sandra?" Scythemon questioned, turning his head to face her. He dropped his weapon to his side at the sound of her voice, her tone suggesting that she was scared of him. Now that he thought about it, his voice did sound a bit creepy, so it was possible that his voice and appearance together could give off a scary vibe. He stepped back from Hyogamon, whom seemed relieved, and turned to face his partner. "I'm sorry, Sandra. I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to." He smiled and let his scythe hang over his shoulder; his smiled seemed so mischievous, but it was one Sandra recognized. "We'll leave this town and go meet up with the others when we're done clearing this mess up, all right?"

Sandra blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, returning a smile and nodding her head. The eldest Hyogamon grabbed his club and attempted to launch a sneak attack on Scythemon while his back was turned. Before the Hyogamon could strike Scythemon, Frigimon reached out and grabbed his leg, pulling him back.

"I don't think so!" Frigimon stated.

"Older brother!" called the Hyogamon that was fighting Swimmon, turning away from the fish-like Digimon.

"Your fight is with me!" Swimmon reminded the ogre, leaping out of the snow. As she jumped into the air, Aaron's Digivice began to glow like Sandra, shooting Swimmon with a beam of light. "Swimmon digivolve to…" the aquatic Digimon said as Swimmon's body took on a blue dolphin-like shape with stripes of a lighter blue color evenly-spaced along her back. She also had a red scar on her nose, and her body looked as if it had been slightly ravaged in battle. "Dolphmon!"

Dolphmon knocked Hyogamon back with her tail. The Hyogamon responded after regaining his footing by charging at her with club in hand.

"Pulse Blast!" Dolphmon shouted as she unleashed a powerful sound wave attack at the ogre-like Digimon.

The Hyogamon created a wall of ice to try and protect himself, but defense was flimsy when it came to blocking sound. He became the victim to Dolphmon's attack, eventually being destroyed by it. An egg fell into the snow, causing the only remaining Hyogamon to curse his foes and admit his defeat.

"Now then, who hired you to attack us?" Frigimon demanded to know. "You said you were under orders, so whose was it?!"

Back in the present, Divermon finished up his story by explaining that the Hyogamon told everyone that a Divermon hired him to make sure the humans did not leave the area. By now, the humans were on their way to the next town.

"I see…" Leviamon said with a low growl, slamming his tail to the ground and causing it to crumble. "This may work to our advantage actually."

"My lord!" Divermon responded, looking up at the Demon Lord.

"However, depending on how well you follow orders," Leviamon continued. "You may or may not live to see how."

Divermon gulped and nodded his head, knowing that disobeying Leviamon would result in death.

Meanwhile, Nero and the others were on the boat they had used to travel to the floating island and were staring up at it. Not just the temple, but the whole island was falling to the ocean below.

"Looks like they got away," DemiDevimon snickered as he floated above. "Guess I didn't need to come here after all." 

(( Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of updates! I've been extremely busy and will hopefully be able to update at a much more frequent pace! Thanks all my loyal readers for your continued support! ))


	28. Chapter 27: Demon Lord Beelzemon Appears

**Chapter 27: The Strongest Demon Lord Beelzemon Appears**

The scene was the Real World, where the company president of Toy Origins Entertainment Inc. could be seen sitting at the end of a gray executive style table with a group of the company's workers gathered around it.

"So tell me again what happened those days ago," the man grumbled. "And why the hell wasn't I informed?!"

"Forgive us, sir," replied the woman with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. "We didn't want to tell you until after we knew exactly what went on. Unfortunately, we still aren't sure. All we know is this, the program we used to track those mysterious IP addresses was deactivated for a short period of time by a password override sequence, and then it was somehow reactivated. However, when it was reactivated, we lost the ability to track it apart from the ability to tell if it was working or not. Then, the program just died; it went blank."

"So, you're saying a password override was used, right?" the president questioned, still annoyed at not being told any of this immediately.

"That is correct," the woman confirmed.

"This is definitely curious," the president said to everyone gathered around the table. "Yoroi, tomorrow I want you to head over to Nero's house and request that his mother to allow you to speak with him. If he can't speak or isn't around, ask her if Nero's ever shared any codes with her. Once you have an answer, return here."

The man with short black hair in a bowl shape nodded his head and agreed to do as he was asked.

"When I first met him, I could tell that Nero was not the type of person to share a powerful code like that with anyone," thought the president. "If his mother doesn't know the password, then I'm certain that Nero deactivated the program. Still, the reactivation and deletion of the program still puzzles me. If Nero himself deleted it, why on earth would he go and turn it back on first?"

As the company president resumed the meeting he was in with some of the other employees, Nero and the others could be found in a small item shop just outside the desert region of the southern portion of the Digital World.

"Are we almost ready yet?" Veemon grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall outside.

"Just hold your horses, Veemon," said Alex with a sigh, leaning against the wall as well. "Nero knows better than anyone what supplies we'll need to cross the desert, so have a little patience."

"Maybe if you and Agumon weren't such gluttons, we wouldn't need so much food," Ryudamon stated, sitting with her arms and legs crossed upon a small rock.

Hikaru placed his hand over his mouth and yawned, not really wanting to get involved in an argument so early in the morning. Even though it was around 9 AM in Japan, it was approximately 7 AM in the area of the Digital World Nero and the others were in.

Aimi stepped outside of the store with Agumon, yawning as well. She had just used the restroom inside. Soon Zaki and PawnChessmon followed, both of them having used it as well, and then Ana and Andrew. Approximately three minutes later, Nero and Forumon walked out as well, with Nero's Digivice now stocked full of supplies. However, there was something else that was different. In addition to Nero's usual attire, he now had a pair of round black goggles strapped around his forehead.

"Hey, Nero, what's with the goggles?" asked Andrew with a smirk. Kudamon, perched upon Andrew's shoulders, gave a little smirk at the sight of the goggles too.

"I was messing around a bit in there and put them on for the hell of it," Nero answered. "Dorumon said it looked good on me and insisted that I buy them."

"Hey, you gotta admit that it looks cool!" Dorumon giggled innocently, his tail swaying from side to side.

"Well, it does suit you," Ana admitted.

"By the way, I got something for all of you," Nero announced, looking at his Digivice and activating one of the menu items. A small group of shades appeared on the ground before the group, and everyone grabbed a pair. When a few more were left, the Digimon realized that they needed some too.

"Thanks, but what are these for?" Aimi wondered.

"These look like normal shades, but they're in fact special glasses," Nero informed. "We'll be crossing the desert, and sandstorms are a high possibility. The game is designed so that anyone not wearing them will be scattered to some random place if they aren't wearing these special shades. That goes especially for all of you Digimon, since these were mainly designed for you!"

Everyone nodded their heads, with the humans storing the items in their Digivices. Nero stored a pair in his Digivice for Dorumon, while he kept the goggles on his head, which would serve the same purpose as the shades in the desert.

Elsewhere, Beelzemon, the Demon Lord in charge of the sector, could be found in a large and luscious oasis somewhere in the desert. The oasis had a fairly decent-sized lake in the middle top of it. Several straw dummies had been set up near the side of the lake, where Beelzemon shot at each of them with his pistols. They all had holes in the direct center of their heads and chests, suggesting that the Digimon had perfect aim.

"Lord Beelzemon!" a voice called from above.

"What is it?" asked the Demon Lord, not even bothering to look up and knowing full-well that it was DemiDevimon.

"The master just wanted me to let you know that Lord Yggdrasil and the others have entered your sector of the Digital World!" the small flying Digimon reported. "He sent me because he was busy… Something about BlackGabumon and one of the other Digimon."

"Tell me, DemiDevimon," requested Beelzemon, putting his guns away and still refusing to make eye contact. "Why does the master have such an interest in BlackGabumon?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," DemiDevimon answered. "Well, later!"

Out view and lurking behind a nearby tree was a tall skeleton-like Digimon. His bones were orange, with a grey area on the inside of his chest, and had two gray wings sprouting from his back. He wore silver armor-plated gauntlets and boots, as well as long silver-colored pants. In his hand he carried a reddish-orange staff with a yellow orb, which was used to attack his enemies.

As DemiDevimon left, Beelzemon drew one of his pistols and aimed at one of the target dummies. His finger was poised to pull the trigger and take the shot.

"I know you're there!" he grumbled.

The skeleton-like Digimon made a "Yipe!" sound and scurried off, only to end up running right into Beelzemon, whom had appeared before him.

Beelzemon reached out and grabbed him by the throat, holding him in place as the Digimon shook in fear.

"What the hell is one of the Daemon Corps doing in my territory?!" he demanded to know. "Answer me, SkullSatamon!"

"P-Please f-forgive me, Lord Beelzemon!" begged SkullSatamon. "I didn't mean to spy."

"That's not what I asked," growled Beelzemon. "Why are you here?! Keep in mind that I don't want any help, even if Daemon asked you to!"

"Th-That's not it," SkullSatamon answered. "The master…told Lord Daemon…to have me do this."

"Do what?" Beezlemon questioned further, loosening his grip enough for SkullSatamon to speak properly. "I want to fight Dorumon alone while he's at full power!"

"It's got nothing to do with Dorumon," SkullSatamon admitted. "It's about BlackGabumon…"

Beelzemon listened in and released SkullSatamon as he told him exactly why he was in his territory.

"I see…" said Beelzemon, turning his head to the side. "So that's the story with BlackGabumon, eh?"

"Yes, Lord Beelzemon," the skeleton-like Digimon responded. "Lord Daemon said the master is certain of this, and that is why I was ordered here."

"Well, with me around, I don't see why they would even ask you to come here?" the Demon Lord chuckled. "Your mission will be accomplished the moment I finish off Dorumon and the others. Just remember this, if you find them before I do and so much as make Dorumon waste even an ounce of his energy, I will hunt you down and kill you myself! Is that clear?!"

SkullSatamon cowered in fear at the threat, knowing that not only was Beelzemon serious, but he was also telling him not to even go near any of the Digimon around Yggdrasil, for if he attacked one, the others, including Dorumon, would strike back. He agreed to the condition and fled the scene, scared of the Demon Lord.

Watching the Digimon run away, Beelzemon stood in place with a smirk. "Things have just become very interesting."

Back in the desert region, Conrad and Jillian were still in the same town they had been for a couple weeks at this point. After such an intensive amount of Digimon with the Digimon in the town, Wizardmon had already reached his Ultimate stage of digivolution. He now resembled a human with long brown hair, his head covered with a long and pointed blue hat attached to a silver helmet. His body was covered in silver armor with gold embroidery and blue pearls attached to the back of his gauntlets. Underneath his armor he was dressed in red robes. A purple cloth hung from his groin and down past his legs, and a cape of a darker purple color draped over his back.

The Digimon leapt backwards with a flaming sword in his right hand, heaving a sigh of exhaustion after sparring several of the Digimon in the town.

"Good work, Mystimon!" cheered Conrad. "At this level, we should definitely be of assistance to the group heading our way!"

"If only I had achieved this level of strength sooner," Mystimon, the next level of Wizardmon, stated. "Perhaps then we could've left this town and escaped the desert to meet with them earlier."

"Don't worry about it," Conrad told him.

Conrad knew that Candlemon would've been strong enough as Wizardmon to ensure that the two of them made it through the desert safely, but Wizardmon was uncertain about whether or not he could protect both Conrad and Jillian. Protecting Jillian should have been Veemon's concern, but Veemon still lacked the ability to digivolve to even the Champion level. He had trained alongside Candlemon for quite a while, but for the last few days, he had refused to train.

"Come on, Veemon," Jillian said to her partner, whom was sitting outside an old western-style store. "Don't you wanna train?"

"What's the point?" he whined. "I can't digivolve, so what good am I? It's not like I enjoy fighting anyway. Maybe this is a sign that I wasn't meant to."

Not liking the way he was talking, Jillian embraced her partner in a hug, something that cheered Veemon up a bit.

"I don't care if you can't digivolve," she said. "You're still partner, and my friend."

That statement resulted in a smile from Veemon, and made him realize what he had thought before he went into his slump. He needed to figure out how to digivolve so he could protect his human partner, even if he really didn't like fighting.

Meanwhile, a few hours had passed since Nero and the others crossed into the sandy desert, travelling across dune after dune of sand. The sun was beaming from above down onto them, with each and every one of them sweating bullets. They constantly had to stop to drink some bottled water that Nero stored in his Digivice, though even Nero questioned if he had brought enough. Since it had been a game, Nero didn't take into account how hot it would actually be, even if it was a desert. Nero had chosen the most difficult path for reaching the town Conrad and Jillian had taken refuge in, but it was far less populated by players for that reason, and they were less likely to encounter any wild Digimon and waste even more of their energy.

"How much longer?" Agumon moaned, his stomach growling as usual.

"If we were taking the faster route, we'd be there by nightfall," Nero answered. "However, with this route, I'd say it'll take us about another day if we stop and rest tonight."

"That long?" Aimi complained.

"Well, I'd prefer it if we didn't run into other players," informed Nero. "Frankly speaking, I'd rather take a route where something like that was less likely to happen."

"Why is it so important that we don't run into other players?" Zaki wondered.

"Well, if time passes at the rate here I think it does, then that means we've all been missing from our world for quite a while now," Nero explained. "Imagine what would happen if people found that humans had been zapped into a game? For starters, to try and 'rescue' us, they'd probably do anything in their power to get us out, and they could mess with the game enough to crash it and trap us here forever. Second, human nature suggests that scientists and the government might want to find a way to gain access to this technology, and I wouldn't want the Digital World to suffer for it. And then there's what worries me the most… If humans can get in here, what's stopping us from pulling the Digimon out? I don't know if it's possible for Digimon to enter our world or not, but if they did, the military would probably want to use them as weapons, creating war and causing millions of humans and Digimon alike to suffer. I just don't want anything like that to happen! I would never be able to forgive myself if that happened due to a simple game I created."

The Digimon were a bit shocked by Nero's words, not knowing that he cared so much about their wellbeing.

"I just wish it wasn't so hot though," Ana said in an exhausted tone of voice.

"Try not to think about it so much," Kudamon suggested.

"Easy for you to say," Veemon pouted. "You don't have to walk."

"For once, I'm not going to complain about something that came out of your mouth," Ryudamon said to Veemon.

All of the Digimon seemingly glared at Kudamon, causing him to irk and cower behind his partner.

"If you guys would prefer, I could let him walk," Andrew giggled. "Though with all of this sand, I'd hate to spend another day out here just to try and find him because he got lost underneath it all."

The Digimon all sighed and returned their attention forward while Kudamon thanked his partner for sticking up for him.

To avoid stopping for lunch, Nero was forced to draw out food stored in his Digivice and give it to everyone to eat on the go. They would become that much more exhausted if they stopped, though they were tempted to do so. Within the next couple hours, the group would find themselves using the shades Nero had purchased for them sooner than expected. An ominous wind stirred up and began to blow, and with it a massive cloud of dust. Nero brought the goggles down from over his forehead and placed them over his eyes, while pulling the shades he got for Dorumon out of his storage and placing them on Dorumon. The other humans did the same as the sandstorm blew over them, and they placed their arms over their faces for protection.

"We need to find shelter!" Alex announced.

"There is none!" Nero shouted. "Don't worry though, in the Digital World it isn't anywhere near as bad! SO long as you keep those over your eyes, nothing bad will happen!"

"I'm afraid something just did," an evil voice cackled.

Everyone immediately focused all of their attention to the front, but the sandstorm made it difficult to see anything. The wind began to dye down a bit, but not enough to suggest that the storm was nearing its end, and the group regained just enough visibility to see who was speaking to them. Standing before them was Beelzemon with one foot upon the seat of his motorcycle, Behemoth. Nero took out his Digivice to give the best information he could on him, and the other humans did so to follow and also prepare for a fight.

"Beezlemon," Nero growled, recognizing him. "He's a Demon Lord, just like Belphemon and Lillithmon, and is naturally of the same attribute. He's constantly on the search for strong foes, and is the most powerful of the Demon Lords. His Double Impact and Darkness Claw attacks are nothing you want to be on the opposite end of."

"D-Did you just say…strongest?" Guilmon stuttered.

"Yes, strongest," bragged Beelzemon. "You guys you're so tough for defeating Belphemon and Lillithmon, don't ya? Well, I got news for ya! I'm on a whole 'nother level!"

"So I guess that means if we beat you, then we can beat anyone, right?" Veemon pointed out. "Let's go, Hikaru-Alex!"

"So impulsive…" sighed Ryudamon. "Come on, Hikaru-sama!"

Veemon and Ryudamon both digivolved to their Ultimate stages, with the other Digimon doing the same after. Amazingly, the shades they all wore stretched to fit their new sizes.

"We'll keep him busy," Qilinmon told Nero and Dorumon, who had yet to digivolve. "That should give you an opportunity to strike!"

As the Digimon charged at Beelzemon, the Demon Lord to took no action to defend himself. He took the full front of the various attacks while Dorumon digivolved to his newly acquired Mega-level form of Alphamon. When the smoke cleared from the attacks the Digimon had fired, Beelzemon was shown without a scratch on him. Alphamon brought his down on him, charging the anti-virus program through it.

"DAV Holy Judgement!" he roared.

Beelzemon held up his right arm, catching the sword with his right hand.

"Is he serious?!" Nero thought. "Even if he hasn't taken any serious damage, taking the full force of Alphamon's DAV attack is an automatic suicide for a Demon Lord!"

To Nero and Alphamon's surprise, Beelzemon didn't succumb to the attack. Rather, he easily pushed the sword away, not even feeling the slightest tingle apart from a small bloody wound on his palm.

"Was that it?" he asked in a disgruntled tone.

"Th-That's impossible!" Nero gasped. "That should've allowed his sword to slice right through you!"

"Really?" Beelzemon retorted with a faint smirk. "So that was the attack you used to defeat Lillithmon then? That's the fabled anti-virus program that HE is so afraid of?"

Beelzemon began laughing at his own statement.

"What's so funny?!" Alphamon spat.

"You impudent fools," Beelzemon cackled evilly. "That won't work on me, because the master never infected me with his power!"

Nero's eyes widened in horror at the sound of that, while everyone else wondered what was going on.

"Now then, you brats! Are you going to fight me seriously now? Or must I end our fun…permanently?"

While Alphamon wasn't about to give up, Nero knew better than to engage Beelzemon in combat at the moment. Beelzemon grew impatient and drew his guns, hoping to spur a reaction. He fired a shot from each at Alphamon, who was prepared to block with his sword. However, before he could do so, he suddenly felt the shades covering his eyes disappear. He disappeared before Beelzemon's eyes, vanishing form sight; Nero was gone as well.

"What?!"

Qilinmon was the first to realize what had happened, remembering Nero's words from earlier.

"Everyone, take off your shades!" he announced. "Now!"

The Digimon and humans quickly did the same as what they believed Nero to have done, disappearing just as Beelzemon fired shots at them too. The sandstorm finally ended, allowing complete visibility. Beelzemon cursed aloud as he was left alone, swearing that he would he find them.


	29. Chapter 28: Agumon's Assassin!

**Chapter 28: Agumon's Assassin! Fastest in the Digital World**

Nero and Alphaman were thrown by the sandstorm quite a distance from where they had been during their encounter with Beelzemon. While Nero landed on his knees, causing them to become quite red, Alphamon landed headfirst into the sand. It took several seconds for Alphamon to get a firm enough grip on the sand to pull his head out, sand dripping from his armor to the ground in the form of a small waterfall.

"What the hell was that for, Lord Yggdrasil?" Alphamon wondered, acting more like Dorumon now. "I could've deflected those shots easily!"

"It's not the shots he fired that caused me to do that, Alphamon," replied Nero, slowing getting to his feet. Every inch he moved resulted in a wince of pain, his legs and knees screaming in pain from the way he landed.

"Then why did you stop me from fighting him?" asked the Mega-level Digimon. Alphamon kindly held out his arm and offered help his partner to his feet, his hand quite a bit large than Nero's. Nero grabbed hold of the hand and was finally fully standing. His legs were incredibly red from his landing earlier.

"Think about it, Alphamon," Nero responded while he brushed himself off. "This whole time we've been relying on the anti-virus program to deal with every threat the virus has thrown our way. However, while it's true that Beelzemon is of the Virus attribute, he hasn't been infected by the same power that infected you earlier, therefore making the program useless."

"What are you trying to say? Are you saying that I'm not strong enough to defeat him?" Alphamon sounded as if he was appalled that his own partner was demeaning his strength.

"No, you are strong enough, you are fast enough," Nero told him. "But that's all. Tell me, Alphamon, how much of your energy did you use digivolving to your current level and activating the program?"

Alphamon looked down at Nero, meeting his eyes. Nero was glaring at him much like he did when he was deep in thought. The difference this time was that Nero was truly glaring. Alphamon looked down further, his silence an answer enough.

"As I thought… Listen, Alphamon, if you're going to defeat Beelzemon, you're going to need to get a lot more experienced in fighting in that form. At your current level, there's no way you'd last more than five minutes against him!"

Alphamon nodded his head, figuring that knew that he was talking about.

"To start things off, I want you to stay in that form until you absolutely cannot hold it anymore. In addition, let's take on any wild Digimon we come across. That should help you get used to amount of energy you use."

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasil," Alphamon said.

Nero took a deep breath before exhaling, wondering how things got as far as they had. Beelzemon's appearance was unexpected, and Nero knew he wasn't the type to give up so easily. He would chase them down.

Nero took out his Digivic and fiddled around with the menu. After checking on the location of everyone, he opened a private messaging system that could be used with those he had already come in contact with. "With these directions, so long as they don't run into Beelzemon, they should be fine. They're pretty strong and resourceful, so I think they would know better than to take on anything they couldn't handle."

In another section of the desert, consisting what seemed to be a forest of oddly shaped cacti, Alex could be seen walking around with Veemon. Veemon had both of his hands positioned behind his head, glancing over at Alex.

"Awwww! But I'm hungry!" a familiar voice whined, drawing the attention of Alex and Veemon.

"I know, Agumon, but we don't have any," Aimi replied in an equally whiney voice, seemingly just as hungry.

"Well, I have a bit stored," Ana's voice added to the conversation, suggesting that Guilmon was there too. "I think we should save it for an emergency though. Nero has the rest of it."

While Guilmon also complained about wanting some food as well, Veemon ran over and greeted the other Digimon, waving his right arm. "Hey, Agu! Guilmon!"

The two Digimon instantly returned the greeting, both happy to see one of their friends after being separated from each other. The three humans all greeted one another in a similar manner, and Alex expressed her surprise in that all three of them wound up in the area. Ana admitted that when they took of their shades back in the sandstorm, she had grabbed hold of Aimi in fear of leaving her alone. Therefore, they stayed together after being thrown halfway across the desert.

While the group continued their discussion, the three Digivices began to produce a loud beeping sound at the same exact time in a synchronized fashion. All three humans immediately reached at their sides and pulled out their Digivices, scrolling through the message Nero had sent them.

"What's up?" Veemon questioned.

"It's Nero," Alex answered him. "He wants a reply telling him who is in which group, and he wants us to meet him at the town. According to the coordinates he gave us, we appear to be the farthest from it."

"Huh?" Agumon gasped, is mouth hanging wide open as looked almost teary-eyed. "But I'm so hungry!"

"Well then, I suggest we keep on moving so we can get there sooner then," Ana suggested.

"You stay here and you'll get even hungrier," Guilmon warned, his own stomach churning and producing a small grumble.

"I guess," the little orange dinosaur-like Digimon whimpered, closing his eyes and grimacing at the thought of travelling all that way. Despite his hunger, Agumon definitely possessed the ability to go a few days without eating, though he'd probably die from lack of air due to his constant whining about wanting food. Taking in a deep breath and swallowing a large amount of air, Agumon began to press on in the front of the group, walking like a general leading an army platoon would.

"Give him a purpose involving food and he's a whole 'nother Digimon," Veemon observed.

After approximately five minutes, Nero's Digivice began beeping, signaling a response from the others.

"It looks like Ana, Aimi, and Alex all wound up together. Andrew and Zaki, are also together, while Hikaru and Ryudamon seem to be by alone like us," Nero pointed to his Digivice, showing Alphamon where everyone was. He took a minute to comprehend the situation, noting that the only other single red dot, Hikaru, was the closest to the town. The largest group of dots, which Nero guessed was the girls, was the farthest away from the town, and still in an area of the desert where Beelzemon could be roaming about. "This could be very bad!"

"Should we go?" Alphamon picked up Nero, already knowing the answer to the question he had just asked. He immediately flew off in the direction of the town. Due to how Nero and Alphamon had been thrown by the sandstorm, they actually landed on the other side of the desert and would have to pass by the town to reach them.

Elsewhere, Nero's assessment of the situation involving Hikaru and Ryudamon turned out to be correct. The two had arrived at the town within 20 minutes and were now wandering around the town.

"Looks like we're the first ones here," Hikaru observed, looking at his Digivice. Most of the red dots blinking on the screen were moving at a steady pace towards their location, and one of them was moving particularly fast.

"Hikaru-sama!" called Ryudamon, "Don't you think it would be a good idea to look for the other humans and their partners who are said to be here already?"

"I'm one step ahead of you," replied the human. "According to this, they should be fairly close."

Out in the desert, Agumon still marched in front of the other group, a gap of at least ten feet between them. The others all slumped behind him. Aimi was so tired that she was riding on Guilmon's back, though he didn't seem to mind it too muchm even if he was panting from exhaustion.

"How can he be so perky in this heat?" wondered Ana.

"The guy really wants his food," Veemon crossed his arms and nodded his head, acting as if he knew more than the others.

Alex sighed, feeling completely dehydrated in the intense desert heat. She wasn't the only one; everyone was feeling the effects of the high temperature.

"Ana, do you think we could have some of the water you have stored?" Aimi looked up from Guilmon's back. "I'm really…really thirsty!"

Ana wasn't one to complain at the moment and dug into the menu on her Digivice, finding ten bottles of water from the Digital World inside. "We only have four left after this," she announced. "So I suggest you ration the water in the bottle you receive." Once she clicked on the item, six bottles of water poffed before them from out of thin air, with the ten count reducing to four.

"Hey, Agu!" yelled Veemon, grabbing his attention and holding up two bottles of water. "Come and get some water!"

Agumon didn't need to be told twice; he quickly retreated and began running towards the group, his arms both straightened out behind him as he ran. Veemon chucked one of the bottles at Agumon as he drank from his own. Agumon reached out his right arm and attempted to grab hold of the bottle, but before he could, it suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"Huh?" Agumon gasped. "What was that?"

"What's wrong, Agumon?" Aimi questioned, drinking from her own bottle of water and now standing beside Guilmon and Ana. Guilmon could be seen happily drinking from his own bottle, holding it with both hands like a baby would a bottle.

"The bottle…" Agumon answered. "It just disappeared!"

"The heat must be getting to you," Alex chuckled. "That's impossible!"

"Bottles don't just disappear," Veemon added with a sigh. "Are you sure it just land in the sand?"

"I'm tellin' ya, it disappeared!" the little orange dinosaur-like Digimon whined and stopped his feet on the ground.

The sound of water trickling onto the sand below soon caught the attention of everyone. The first thing they saw when they turned their heads was water weakly flowing down the external ribcage of SkullSatamon, and then they saw him. Agumon spotted the bottle of water that Veemon had tossed him in the skeleton-like Digimon's hand. The bottle had been depleted of all water, and SkullSatamon lowered his arm and wiped the water dripping from his chin before tossing the bottle away.

"Thanks, you guys!" he cackled. "I needed that!"

"Hey, that was mine!" Agumon complained.

Guilmon took one look at the Digimon and took a more feral stance, growling menacingly with a decreased size in his pupils. Ana took out her Digivice and read the information on him.

"SkullSatamon's his name," she read. "He's a Ghost-type Digimon of the Virus attribute. His worst attack is his Bone Blaster, which unleashes a powerful lightning strike from his staff."

"My apologies," SkullSatamon said and stepped forward, his staff in hand. "Am I correct to assume that are Agumon?" He didn't need a response to that question, knowing full-well that he was. Agumon admitted his identity, and both Veemon and Guilmon prepared for a battle they expected to come. "I see…" the skeleton replied, twirling his staff about and pointing the orb end at Agumon. "Nothing personal, but I'm afraid you have to die."

A bolt of lightning shot from SkullSatamon's staff, only to be blocked by AeroVeedramon and WarGrowlmon, whom had used their bodies to protect him.

"I don't know what your problem is with Agu," roared AeroVeedramon, "but anyone who messes with my friend will answer to me!"

SkullSatamon heaved a deep sigh, and stood his staff upright. "Listen, I have no beef with you guys! Personally, I would prefer to not have to kill the two of you. But if I don't kill Agumon, the master and Lord Daemon will have my head! So, I'll ask you this just once: Would you please step aside?"

Both Digimon subsequently gave him the same answer, neither one of them willing to let anything happen to their friend. All three humans cheered at their decision.

"Very well then!" SkullSatamon pointed his staff at the Digimon, preparing to blast them with another bolt of lightning. Before he could unleash his attack, AeroVeedramon charged at him and knocked the staff off to the side, redirecting the blast to a nearby sand dune. AeroVeedramon produced an attempt to strike the skeleton-like Digimon, but he disappeared before his eyes. A rainfall of sand from the blasted dune showered over him as SkullSatamon kicked him from behind, sending him face first into the grains.

"Atomic Blaster!" shouted WarGrowlmon, firing two lasers from his chest plates at SkullSatamon.

The evil Digimon shifted his body a bit to the left, completely avoiding the attack. He lunged at WarGrowlmon, slamming his body into him and whacking him in the chin with his staff, knocking him to the ground. SkullSatamo laughed evilly and ignored AeroVeedramon as he stood up.

"Now then, Agumon, let's…" he grinned. His smile soon vanished from his face when he noticed that Agumon was not where had been a few moments earlier. "Huh? Where'd he run off to?"

"Looking for me?" a deeper Agumon-like voice responded. SkullSatamon looked up to find MetalGreymon coming down from above, swinging his metallic claw at him. "Metal Claw!"

The claw extended from his arm, striking the sandy terrain below. Sand shot up around his arm after it hit the ground, but it didn't take long for him to realize that SkullSatamon was not on the opposite end of his claw. His claw remained stuck in the ground, leaving the skeleton an opening to attack. He raised his staff high into the aira and hovered before MetalGreymon, cackling some more. Electricity shot out of his staff, hitting MetalGreymon dead on and causing him cry out in intense pain. His claw finally came lose, allowing him to fall back and break the electric field surrounding him. This probably saved his life.

"My, my…" SkullSatamon shook his head in disappointment. "You survived, that's no good. This just will not do!" The skeleton-like Digimon sighed and pointed his staff at MetalGreymon, whom was twitching in pain at the moment. "Guess I better correct my mistake."

"No you don't!" AeroVeedramon growled, ramming his own body into SkullSatamon, actually landing a hit on him this time.

AeroVeedramon wrapped his arms around SkullSatamon, determined to not let him go. He signaled for WarGrowlmon to come and get him. WarGrowlmon ran towards SkullSatamon, holding up his blade-covered arm as if to behead him. SkullSatamon did not appear to be worried and only smirked. Shortly following the smirk was a jolt of electricity that surged throughout AeroVeedramon's body, forcing him to let go.

SkullSatamon took the opportunity to knock AeroVeedramon away, using his incredible speed to appear underneath WarGrowlmon and slam an attack into chin once again.

"He's so fast…" AeroVeedramon grunted. "I don't think even Dorumon could catch him."

"Now why don't you two stay down for good this time," SkullSatamon snickered, approaching MetalGreymon, who had finally gotten to his feet. MetalGreymon was still far too weak to fight back against the evil Digimon, his metallic body parts acting as a powerful conductor. "As I've said already, this guy is my ONLY target." What SkullSatamon didn't reveal was that Beelzemon would kill him if he took out anyone. He did promise the Demon Lord that Agumon was the only one he would target, and Beelzemon was not someone to anger. "Sorry, but it's time to die! Bone Blaster!"

This time SkullSatamon took careful time to charge up his attack, ensuring that it would rip through a defense MetalGreymon might put up. MetalGreymon did fight back, firing two missiles from his chest plate at him. The attack had no effect though, as an electric field surrounding SkullSatamon destroyed them before they could reach their designated target. The skeleton finally released his attack, a bolt of lightning heading straight towards MetalGreymon. Aimi cried out for her partner, worried for his safety.

A blinding flash of light later, MetalGreymon looked on in horror as AeroVeedramon was on one knee before him, making painful founds and covering his side. His skin smelled of burnt flesh where the attack hit, colored with a darkened brown.

"That was pretty quick work of you," cackled SkullSatamon. "But not quick enough it would seem. You should've listened to me."

"Aero… Why?" MetalGreymon gasped.

"Because we're friends," AeroVeedramon answered. "That's the only reason I need to protect you. Even with this wound on my side, even if it costs me my life… I swear I will not let anyone hurt you! Because… you are…" he coughed, "…my friend!"

AeroVeedramon cold feel his strength waning. He would soon revert to his Rookie-level stage, and one more attack would finish him off for good.

"Is that so?" SkullSatamon smirked. "Well then, I'll send the two of you to hell at the same time! Bone Blaster!"

SkullSatamon charged up his attack once again, and WarGrowlmon wasn't sure if he could make it in time to save his friends.

"MetalGreymon, nooooooooo!" cried Aimi.

"Don't give up, AeroVeedramon!" Alex yelled, her Digivice glowing.

With another flash, SkullSatamon unleashed another blast of electricity, this one just as powerful as the last. WarGrowlmon cut off the power of the jets on his back and stopped, calling out to his friends. SkullSatamon laughed maniacally. His laugh was short-lived though as a familiar voice shot through the blinding light.

"AeroVeedramon digivolve to…" AeroVeedramon announced with his body changing form. A thin, but incredibly sturdy blue and white armor, the same color as his skin, coated his upper body and arms. His head became more human-like, but was hidden behind a blue and white knight-like helmet. His claws became human-like hands, and white wristbands remained fastened around his wrists. The wristbands had a device connected to them that produced a small energy blade for him to wield. The red part of his wings turned pink, and a large golden "V" appeared across his chest. "UlForceVeedramon!"

When the light faded, UlForceVeedramon could be seen covering MetalGreymon from the front, a golden aura barrier surrounding them.

"That's impossible!" thought SkullSatamon. "How did he…?!"

"Whadda ya know," said Ana, holding up here Digivice, "it looks like AeroVeedramon digivolved. He's now UlForceVeedramon, an Exalted Knight-type Digimon. He uses his UlForce Sabers to attack his enemies before delivering their final judgment with his Ray of Victory."

"Whoa!" Alex's mouth hung open, awestruck by the sight. "Way to go, UlForceVeedramon! Kick his ass!"

SkullSatamon began to panic, not prepared to have to deal with a Mega-level Digimon. Using what he believed to be his superior speed, SkullSatamon disappeared before their very eyes. "We'll finish this some other time!"

He reappeared approximate 100 feet away from the group, but was shocked when UlForceVeedramon appeared behind him.

"Hello there!" he chuckled.

"What the…?!" SkullSatamon gasped.

Once again, the skeleton tried to flee, but everywhere he went, UlForceVeedramon followed.

"Damn it! Stay away!" the evil Digimon began turned around, trying to hit him with the blunt end of his staff.

UlForceVeedramon formed a small saber using the device above his right wrist, parrying the attack. SkullSatamon leaped into the air, hovering in place and gathering electricity in his staff.

"Bone Blast-"

His attack was quickly cut off by UlForceVeedramon, whom grabbed hold of the glowing orb at the end of the staff.

"Not this time!" he declared, crushing it in the palm of his hand. The orb's destruction caused a chain reaction, sending a jolt of electricity down the staff and into SkullSatamon's body. Before he could recover, UlForceVeedramon held his chest to his face. "This is for trying to kill my friend! Ray of Victory!"

The knight fired a laser beam from golden V-shaped crest on his chest, disintegrating SkullSatamon into bits of data, which gathered back up into an egg that fell to the sand below. The humans cheered loudly, congratulating the Digimon on his victory over the evil skeleton. UlForceVeedramon descended to the ground and glanced over at MetalGreymon and WarGrowlmon. He took a step towards them, but stopped moving when an evil presence filled the area.

"Well, well…" Beelzemon said with smile across his face. "What have we here? I came here expecting to find Alphamon; I never expected to receive such a show."


	30. Chapter 29: Beelzemon vs Gallantmon

**Chapter 29: The Knight of Justice! Beelzemon vs. Gallantmon**

"What do you want, Beelzemon?" spat UlForceVeedramon, not yet turning around to face the Demon Lord.

"What's with the harsh tone?" Beelzemon smirked, leaning on one knee while his tail slammed on the sandy ground below. "All I wanna know is where Alphamon and Lord Yggdrasil are. I have a feeling you know where they are, so if you wouldn't mind telling me, I'll let you live."

"Why worry about them?" UlForceVeedramon retorted. He turned around to face the evil Digimon, glaring at him. "I'm right here! I'll take you on!"

"Wait a second, UlForceVeedramon!" Alex raised her arm out to him as a reflex as if to grab and stop him, even though she wasn't anywhere near close enough to make physical contact with her partner. "Nero didn't want Alphamon to fight him. Maybe we should think about this."

"Better listen to your little human," cackled Beelzemon. "Fighting you lot would be pointless. Especially you, MetalGreymon!" Beelzemon said the last bit as if he were interested in the weakened Ultimate-level Digimon, grinning at him. He leaped into the air and landed in front of him, looking up at him.

"What do you mean by that?" MetalGreymon asked weakly, struggling to keep his form now that a new threat had emerged before him.

"Even if you could digivolve to the next level, you would still never be able to defeat me," Beelzemon replied, his words causing anger to stir up inside MetalGreymon. "Getting angry at being called weak, eh?" Beelzemon observed MetalGreymon's facial expression, the image of BlackGabumon popping into his mind. "You're more like him than I perceived you to be."

"What are you talking about?" MetalGreymon questioned, now seeming interested in his words.

"Don't listen to him, Metal!" barked UlForceVeedramon. "And you, Beelzemon! Shut that trap of yours and fight me!"

"Can't you see I'm talking to the incomplete Digimon over here?" Beelzemon waved his hand back towards UlForceVeedramon as if he were trying to shoo him away. "Unless you plan on telling me where Alphamon is, I have no interest in you in your condition."

"Incomplete?" thought MetalGreymon, thinking that the Demon Lord didn't appear to be lying about whatever it was he were talking about based on his attitude.

"Well get interested!" UlForceVeedramon roared, extending an energy blade and charging at Beelzemon with such speed that he was invisble to the naked eye. Alex and the other couldn't even tell where he was, though that didn't stop the Digimon's partner from calling out to him and telling him wait.

Beelzemon took a deep breath and sighed, reaching into his gun holster and grabbing hold of his weapon. The evil Digimon jumped up high. UlForceVeedramon suddenly reappeared underneath him with his arm extended. He was flabbergasted that Beezlemon seemed to have anticipated his attack and avoided it with such ease. Beelzemon took direct aim at the blue Digimon from above, firing a single shot from his weapon. The attack hit its mark, striking UlForceVeedramon in the wound given to him by SkullSatamon after piercing his armor.

UlForceVeedramon collapsed onto his back in front on MetalGreymon, releasing a deafening cry of pain into the air/ He could no longer hold his Mega-level form and became Veemon once again, blood leaking from his injury and pouring onto the sand. Veemon continued to cry out in an uncontrollable spasm, the sound of voice causing tears to fill Alex's eyes. Without any concern for her safety, Alex left the others to run over to her partner.

"V-Veemon?" Aimi stuttered. She had never heard such a horrific sound before.

"That's…. That's just awful!!" spouted Ana. It was difficult for her to continue looking on, but she knew that she couldn't let Beelzemon out of her sight after a stunt like that.

"I told you that I wasn't interested in fighting you in your condition," Beelzemon sighed.

"H-How could you?!" MetalGreymon growled, unable to bear the sight of his friend screaming in pain. Still, seeing how quickly UlForceVeedramon was taken out, what chance did he have of doing anything in his condition? He felt powerless to fight back. Alex was now holding Veemon's head up in her arms, doing her best to keep him calm.

"It's all right, Veemon," she continued to tell him in the calmest voice she could muster. "You're going to be okay!"

Beelzemon simply shook his head as he raised his leg up behind him, kicking WarGrowlmon in the chest after the Digimon tried a failed sneak attack. WarGrowlmon was easily pushed to his rear and his back by the Mega-level Digimon. Beelzemon seemed uninterested with WarGrowlmon's strength and returned to Veemon, whom was still crying out in pain.

"If it hurts so much, maybe I should just put you out of your misery right now," he said, holding a gun up to his head.

"No!" cried Alex, covering her partner and looking up at the evil Digimon with teary eyes. "Why are you doing this?! Nero said that you weren't infected by the virus, so why are you attacking us?! We didn't do anything to you!"

"Why am I doing this?" Beelzemon repeated, sheathing his gun. "For the same reason any Digimon would fight another: to get stronger! I could care less about what the master wants; I want power!"

"P-Power?" WarGrowlmon said, sitting up and getting to his feet. "You would make innocent people cry, even kill them…for that? How could someone like you be so evil?"

"Evil?" Beelzemon glared back at WarGrowlmon. "Let me tell you something about evil… It doesn't exist." He turned around to face WarGrowlmon. His stare was so cold it sent a chill up WarGrowlmon's back, despite the intense heat of the desert. "There is no good. There is no evil. There is only power! Power controls everything! It controls people's dreams… It controls people's fears. Give anyone enough power and they'll surely try to rule the world. Those without power will cower in fear, and desire the power to free them. In then end, it's all about power."

WarGrowlmon glanced down at Veemon, whom was fighting for life in a different kind of battle, and the human who was doing everything she could to keep him calm.

"Enough!" he brought his gaze to meet directly with Beelzemon's, the Demon Lord sensing a sudden change in him. "Your evil deeds must come to an end! I will stop you, even if it costs me my life!"

"You tell him, WarGrowlmon!" Ana cheered, clenching her hands into fists. Her Digivice suddenly started glowing, firing a beam of light at WarGrowlmon. WarGrowlmon could feel the energy whirling up inside him, his body growing more powerful, changing.

"WarGrowlmon digivolve to…" he yelled as his body began to morph. His body took on a more humanoid shape, with shining white kinght-like armor covering his body from head to toe. The elbow-like plates on the back of gauntlets were colored red, as were his shoulder plates and knee plates. His greaves, most of them hidden under the armor covering his legs, had gold coloring on the tips, and red coloring on the heels and ankles. A pair of yellow eyes was all that showed from behind his helmet, a Guilmon-like mask could be seen across his forehead. "Gallantmon!"

"Kick…his…ass!" Alex said with a slight pause between her words for emphasis.

The Mega-Level form of Guilmon raised his right arm up into the air, summoning a long white jousting stick. A round shield appeared on his left arm; a red digital hazard sign positioned in the center of it matched the one on his chest. "Your treachery ends here!"

Back in town, Hikaru and Ryudamon continued their search for the humans they knew to be there.

"The Digivice says they should be somewhere around here," the boy told his partner. "See anyone, Ryudamon?"

"Nada, Hikaru-sama," responded the dinosaur-like Digimon. She surveyed the area as far forward as she could, not seeing anything that looked like a human. "Wait, is that…" she began to say as she eyed a familiar blue figure. "It is… Veemon!"

At the sound of Ryudamon's voice, Veemon turned around to face the two. They ran over waving, but Hikaru realized that something was odd. Not only was Alex nowhere in sight, but he was looking at them like he didn't know who they were.

"Hey, Veemon, where's Alex?" Ryudamon wondered after noticing the human girl was nowhere to be found. "Don't tell me you ditched her food again."

"Who's Alex?" the blue Digimon blinked curiously, tilting his head a bit.

"Hold on a second, Ryudamon," Hikaru held his hand down in front of Ryudamon. "I don't think this is the same Veemon."

Ryudamon leaned in close to examine the Veemon, resulting in him backing away in a creeped-out way. Ryudamon brought herself back and bowed to him. "My apologies, Veemon, I mistook you for someone else."

Veemon watched as Ryudamon conversed with her partner and started walking away. A few clicks ran in his brain and he quickly came to the realization that he had just met another human like his partner.

"Wait!" he called, the two looking back over at him. "You guys wouldn't happen to know Lord Yggdrasil, would you?"

"You mean, Nero?" replied Hikaru. "Yeah, we've been travelling around with him for a while now. He should actually be here soon."

"He's coming here?" Veemon gasped. "That's great! I've gotta tell Jillian!"

The name sparked the plugs in Hikaru and Ryudamon's minds and both noticed that the name sound human-like. As Veemon ran away, the two pursued him.

Hikaru and Ryudamon had yet to become aware that Nero had actually passed by the town already and were set on-course to meet with the girls that had been left alone at the farthest point.

Beelzemon ginned evilly at the new challenge that had unexpectedly appeared before him, placing both of his hands at his waist. "So, you think you can take me on, eh? Seeing how you're in better shape than that other guy, I suppose I could play wit you for a little while. It'll be a nice little warm-up for Alphamon."

He disappeared before Gallantmon's eyes; the Demon Lord was fast, but not as fast as UlForceVeedramon. Having already seen the movements of Veemon's Mega-level form, Beelzemon seemed to stand still. He raised his shield up to his left side, blocking a kick thrown at him by Beelzemon.

"Impressive! You saw that one coming…" Beelzemon raised both of his guns up to Gallantmon's head, his foot keeping the shield down. "But not this one. Take this! Double Impact!"

Gallantmon ducked his head down. The bullets fired grazed the top of his helmet and bounced away with a clang sound. He pulled his shield down a bit and forced Beelzemon to lose his footing on the shield. The knight-like Digimon slid on the ground underneath the enemy, attempting to land a kick into Beelzemon's back. Beelzemon shifted his body in midair to block the kick with his arms. His whole body began to spin with the force of the impact, but he safely landed on the ground without any sign of injury.

"This is getting to be fun!"

While Beelzemon seemed to think of the battle as nothing more than a game, Gallantmon was quickly discovering the reason as to why Nero didn't let Alphamon fight him.

"This form takes a lot out of you," ran the through in his mind. "And I haven't even used one of my special attacks yet." He tried to hide his fatigue, which wasn't too difficult to do while hidden behind his helmet. He raised his joust up to Beelzemon's chest, the point charged with electricity. "Lightning Joust!"

A wide toothy grin came across the Demon Lord's face as Gallantmon prepared to launch the attack at him. He beat his chest vigorously before holding both of his arms out in front of him. "Bring it!"

"He's a beast!" MetalGreymon observed.

Gallatnmon released the stored up energy in his lance, sending it all at the Beelzemon. The lightning hit its intended target, but Beelzemon seemed to be enduring it. He let out a lout warrior-like yell while standing his ground, being pushed back about two feet based on the marks in the sand his feet produced. Despite the intensity of the attack, Beelzemon had received naught but a small burn mark upon his chest.

"Is that the best you've got?" Beelzemon cackled. "Kid, let me tell ya something… In this desert, the occasional lightning hurts worse than that."

Nero had implemented such a feature into the game. The weather changed in the game much like it did in the Real World, and while the desert received little to no rain, it did receive electrical storms from time to time.

"Now then, I think it's my turn."

Beelzemon charged at Gallantmon with so much force that he caused the sand underneath him to part. Even though Gallantmon had managed to defend himself with his shield, the punch the Digimon delivered hurled him backwards. Gallantmon raised his shield up again just in time to block an aerial kick from Beelzemon, the power of the kick causing his body to dig into the sandy ground.

"Shield of the Just!" shouted Gallantmon.

Beelzemon looked down at the shield as several red triangles circling the hazard symbol lit up.

"Shit…" the Demon Lord said before being shot with a humongous beam of energy released from the shield. He was flung off into the distance by the massive burst of energy before finally skidding against the ground and landing in a sand dune. Te dune exploded upon impact, resulting in a shower of sand falling from the sky.

Gallantmon began panting very heavily, having exhausted almost of all of his energy at this point. After using up the energy he did as WarGrowlmon and using up most of his power in his last two attacks, it was a surprise that he was still in his Mega-level form. The Digimon thought he had finally caught a break before an evil laugh permeated the dense air.

Beelzemon emerged from the pile of sand he had been under looking beat up. His jacket was torn with holes in various places and his mask had several soot marks scattered about.

"Does this guy ever quit!?" Ana complained, knowing her partner wouldn't be able to continue fighting this monstrosity.

Aimi had sought comfort from MetalGreymon and could be seen huddled up against his leg, while Veemon had finally calmed down and fallen unconscious in his partner's arms.

Beelzemon leapt into the air, doing a front-flip before landing directly in front of Gallantmon. Before the knight-like Digimon could react, Beelzemon dropped down and swept him off of his feet. Landing on his tush, Gallantmon looked up to find Beelzemon with a gun held to his face.

"Game over!" Beelzemon announced, standing on his lance so he couldn't strike back.

Gallantmon shut his eyes as the humans all gasped in fear and his partner called out to him. He was weak. Beelzemon was strong and experienced. Nothing he did would save his life this time. He heard the click of Beelzemon's gun, but heard no gunshot. He opened his eyes when his jousting stick became lighter, watching Beelzemon walk away from him with his guns sheathed. The Demon Lord was now approaching the humans.

"You're not going to finish me off?" the red and white Digimon questioned.

"My orders were to destroy Alphamon and apprehend Lord Yggdrasil," he answered. "Never once did the master ever order me to dispose of you lot. I want power! It's why I seek strong opponents! Killing a weakling would hardly increase my strength. Get stronger, kid. Live with the knowledge that you lost to a superior opponent. Hate me for what I did to your friend. Then, someday, when you're stronger, come face me again!"

Gallantmon was surprised by Beelzemon's words, but he still didn't want to risk letting him hurt anyone else. He reached out his arm, but his lack of energy caused him to revert back to his Rookie stage, Guilmon, before he could. Beelzemon approached the Alex, whom was still with Veemon.

"Where's Lord Yggdrasil?!" he demanded.

"I'm right here!" a familiar voice responded.

Beelzemon turned his head to the side to find Nero and Alphamon now on the scene. He smiled a sinister grin as Nero gazed upon the condition of his friends. Still, although Beelzemon was surely weakened by the look of things, Nero knew he couldn't win.

"That was quite cowardly of you two back there," he grinned, pulling out his pistols and aiming them at Alphamon.

"Hold it, Beelzemon!" Nero requested, rasing his hand into the air. Beelzemon seemed surprised by the gesture and fumbled back, curious as to what Nero wanted to say. "Listen, I know you want to fight Alphamon, and nothing I say will change your mind." Beelzemon seemed to chuckle at his words, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yes, we ran! But that's only because I knew that we couldn't win. It was wrong to do. However, Beelzemon, hear me out! Please, give us three, no, two days to train! If you accept, I promise Alphamon and I will challenge you to a one-on-one battle!"

"Two days, huh?" Beelzemon replied, sheathing his guns. "And you're sure these extra days would allow Alphamon to reach my level of strength?"

"That is correct," Nero confirmed.

"I don't think I should," Beelzemon grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. "I don't think I should. I did promise the master I'd defeat you guys, and as much as I hate the guy, I'm obliged to keep my promises. I can't risk you guys running from me again, and I'm positive that there's no sandstorm to save your asses this time."

"We won't run!" assured Nero, getting down on his hands and knees in a begging gesture.

This action confused the Digimon, finding it highly unorthodox. He spit off to the side and glared at him. "What can you offer me as collateral? You know, so I can be sure you're telling the truth."

"Collateral?" Aimi wondered.

"He means something of equal value," Ana answered. "Beelzemon wants a trade to ensure that he'll have something if Nero goes back on his word."

Nero panicked for a brief second, wondering what he could possibly offer. Beelzemon suddenly heard a strange sound and raised his arm, catching what looked like a Digivice.

"Will that suffice?" growled Alex, figuring that Veemon would be incapable of fighting for a short while.

Nero looked up; he was worried that Beelzemon might give the Digivice to the virus and use it to track their movements. Nero did voice his complaint, but Guilmon spoke up, telling Nero that he believed that the Demon Lord would not do such a thing.

Beelzemon glanced at Alex, who had a stern look upon her face, and then back at Nero. "Very well! Two days… In two days, meet me at the oasis."

Beelzemon walked over to his motorcycle, the Digivice clenched in his right hand, and rode off, leaving the humans behind.

Elsewhere, back in the virus' lair, a pair of golden yellow eyes appeared in the dark corridors of what looked like BlackGabumon's room. A black leg, seemingly covered in black armor, emerged from the door into the virus' chamber. The virus' voice rang out.

"It looks like your body has finally accepted the power, BlackMetalGarurumon," the voice cackled. "That's good, because there's something I need you to do for me."


End file.
